


Gotham’s Finest Villains

by cosmo222, Fel008, FriesAndRobots, RiddlesAreCool



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25517464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmo222/pseuds/cosmo222, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fel008/pseuds/Fel008, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriesAndRobots/pseuds/FriesAndRobots, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiddlesAreCool/pseuds/RiddlesAreCool
Summary: The villains have Gotham City all to themselves, with no Batman to pester them. They’ll cause chaos, chill out and maybe team up as they enjoy the city, all while getting to know each other better.
Relationships: Harvey Dent & Jervis Tetch, Jonathan Crane/Jervis Tetch, Selina Kyle & Edward Nygma
Kudos: 5





	1. Killer Croc

**Author's Note:**

> This story comes from a Discord RP. As such, each player has their unique writing style and takes on their character. Some characters are less prominent than others due to how active the players are. This RP takes place in an alternate continuity, and as such some events in the canon comics didn’t happen. There’s generally a “broad strokes” continuity from the comics, but it is distinctly separate.

**Dark Studios**

Jervis Tetch wasn’t surprised by how far behind he had become in his stories. Back in Arkham there may have been a selection of channels, yet bullying among inmates narrowed it down to one.  
Of course, the winner was not into British television.  
“Walrus.” A gloved hand twirled around, landing atop the rim of an empty tea cup.  
From the darkness, an animal mascot stepped toward its master.  
White fingers tapped the cup’s rim. “Is the kettle on? Make us a brew, ta.”  
The Walrus nodded in submission and turned around.  
“Oh, and Walrus,”  
It stood still.  
“Two sugars. If I taste only one again it will be off with your head.” The mascot was shooed off like a pest.  
The Mad Hatter had forgotten about any tiny islands. Money was a distant worry.  
All he truly wanted was the Batman to be gone.  
His curious absence as of late was like living a dream.  
On the following commercial break, he snatched his favourite novel from the nearby table. His fingers graced the worn edges, savouring the texture of its hard cover. The smell of aged paper when it opened brought a shiver down his spine.  
A wide, toothy grin slid across his face.  
No matter how many times he’d done this today, his reaction never dulled.  
The words that filled the book were still legible as they were a few hours ago and the hours before then.  
This was no dream. It was real. It was paradise.  
The Mad Hatter’s laughter echoed throughout the abandoned theatre.  
It was a Wonderland.  
\----  
Before Killer Croc actually made it to the theater he was in the sewers. Since he recently broke out of the facility made him a hot target for now. He still had the prison uniform on as he made it to the sewers.  
He hid there until he heard multiple guns open fire from above and down into the manhole, along with some grenades as well.  
Killer Croc was able to kill them but he had a suspicion if he went up something bad would happen. So he fled the scene, used the sewers to his advantage, using water pipes to stop incoming guards.  
He swam quickly and took a lot of sharp turns until he made it into the sea. Once in the sea he knew he had to go back. So that's what he did, he got on land away from the cops and started to carefully sneak around.  
He had to kill a couple cops by biting their heads off so he could pass but that didn't matter. Soon enough he made it to the theater and quickly went inside, closing the door behind him.  
He would let out a sigh of relief as he slowly walked around the theater, looking around, he then said with a growl.  
"this'll do... until the heat goes off... The sewers have to be loaded with bombs now.."  
He left a water trail behind him as he walked around.  
\----  
“Two sugars. Two sugars.”  
Hot water poured into the teapot. Steam rose from its spout, the moisture absorbed by the Walrus' fur.  
A sugar bowl and prong were studied. “Two sugars. Two sugars.”  
It took caution with its movements as it placed the ensemble onto a silver tray.  
The Walrus made its way to its master. It saw its reflection in the tray.  
“Two sugars. Two-"  
A crash filled the theatre.  
The Walrus found itself on the floor. It wailed; boiling water seeped into its suit.  
Its master’s voice called from a distance.  
“What was that?”  
The Walrus moaned.  
The Mad Hatter's footsteps grew closer, grumbling before he spoke again.  
“What is the matt-geh!”  
His body twitched backward as it stopped a near fall.  
He looked down.  
A long line of water made a pathway along the theatre floor.  
His eyes followed it. Then, he followed it.  
When a large figure appeared visible in the distance, he stopped.  
He scanned the area for any weapons. He placed a foot back, ready to flee if needed.  
His voice was almost pleasant when he addressed the guest.  
“Who has fallen into Wonderland?"  
\----  
Croc would walk around the theater looking around, happy with the place until he heard the crash, he stopped walking and his head darted around the room.  
He would clench its fists as he heard the man speak, he would slowly turn around and look at the mad hatter, he would sniff the air as he glared at him. Towering over him.  
"i am only looking for a place to stay low... But if you want to fight... Then so be it..."  
He said starting to walk towards him, his fists still clenched as he walked closer. Croc was getting bigger and bigger as he approached the Mad Hatter.  
Croc didn't want to fight but he thought the mad hatter did. Considering this was his turf so Croc was just protecting himself.  
Croc would stop at any time if he got told that mad hatter was a friendly.  
"i suggest running If you want to fight me... Because i'll eat you alive..."  
He had water dripping from him along with some blood.  
\----  
There was something familiar about this creature before him.  
He had seen it before, its appearance reminding him of a Jabberwock crossed with a human.  
Before The Mad Hatter could finish placing the man, he was suddenly looking up at him. Bloody water dripped down from the guest, landing on Hatter's prominent nose.  
Instinctually his body wanted to run far, far away. His foot inched back, yet he could not move.  
The Mad Hatter was frozen by fear.  
His heart raced and muscles tensed. He knew there were bodyguards and servants scattered about the place, yet this was different. This was no common thug.  
He may not have fully remembered this face, but he knew one thing: this man could easily consume The Mad Hatter like bait within minutes.  
“F-Fight? Why, who said anything about a fight?” With these words he found himself able to move again.  
He slowly backed up, his eyes focused on the other man's fists. He swallowed and tried to remain amicable.  
“Why, I was just about to have some tea.” He removed his top hat and bowed.  
The unfamiliar voice drew attention to a few of The Mad Hatter’s slaves. From the surrounding darkness, mascots of a carpenter and lizard approached.  
They did not take action; they awaited their master's command.  
The Mad Hatter dropped his hat as his pupils shrunk. This was not good; an ambush was not what he intended.  
He wanted to yell at them, to scream and shout and just make them go away.  
It was too bad that his persona failed him.  
He simply mustered a squeak and placed his gloved hand on his chest.  
The meek scientist was taking over.  
Jervis Tetch was paralyzed by terror once more.  
\----  
On the other hand, Croc did not recognize him one bit. The only villains he did know were Bane and Joker. Bane had broken Croc's arm and Joker freed him from Arkham Asylum.  
Croc had been right up to Mad Hatter, looking down at him as he sniffed him, he chuckled lowly as he could smell the fear from him. But he still listened to him.  
"usually when someone sees me they want to fight me and put me back in the asylum... And from the looks of it.. You're too scared to even move.." He said taking a step closer to him as the mad hatter stepped back. Croc would sense someone approach as he turned his head to the mascots.  
" and from the looks of it... You do want to fight... " he stepped away from the hatter and put his hands out  
"come on then! If you want to fight come at me! I'll make sure your death is slow and bloody.. As I eat you from leg to head..." He said glaring at the mascots. Before looking back at the Hatter, "I might not know who you are... but you seem to be in charge... call them off... or i'll kill them and then you.." He said with a growl as he faced the Hatter again  
\----  
The mascots remained still, seemingly unfazed by Croc’s aggression.  
Their master, on the other hand, was far from stoic. With every word that came from the other man’s scaly mouth, The Mad Hatter flinched.  
His eyes darted at his surrounding servants. All this protection and yet he felt weak. He was helpless, pathetic.  
‘You seem to be in charge.’  
His blue eyes blackened from heavy dilation. He was in charge; he had much more power than his racing heart and weak knees made him feel. He wasn’t going to die tonight.  
Like being unchained, he whipped his body to face one of his servants. The Mad Hatter was back.  
“Oh, bugger off! All of you!” His arms flailed about. “Nothing to see here, how dare you intimidate our guest?”  
The servants vanished into the darkness, their footsteps fading as they wandered away.  
The Mad Hatter trembled noticeably, although he tried to hide it.  
“T-Terribly sorry about that,” he reached down to pick up his hat, stumbling to grasp it. “They are just ever so protective of me.”  
He stood up and adjusted his hat and bow tie. He wanted to offer a hand, but his shaking was a little embarrassing. Instead, he bowed. “I am The Mad Hatter.” He chuckled, “You are right, I am in charge.”  
\----  
Croc would watch the servants not react before looking back at hatter. He was slightly surprised that the servants were a lot more brave  
He kept glaring at Mad Hatter as he watched him flail his arm about. He didn't really see him as a threat but Croc had to be cautious. Once he watched the hatter do his introduction, Croc slowly nodded and stuck his hand out to him, expecting a hand shake. Crocs hand was about 2 sizes of Hatter's hand, maybe more.  
"killer croc.... and I am in charge of the sewers... so if you have a death wish... go there" He kept his hand out, he still had bandages wrapped around his hand and the prison uniform but he didn't care. He thought the uniform made him look even more frightening, as he had broken out of Arkham Asylum.  
\----  
The Mad Hatter mouthed a gentle ‘oh’ when Killer Croc offered a massive hand.  
When he realized what the other wanted, he forced his arm to move. “W-well, I have no desire to go into the sewers.” By talking, he relaxed. A blue-sleeved arm finally reached out to take Croc’s hand.  
Through the glove he could feel hard skin engulf his entire hand. He tried to give a firm, proud shake but smiled nervously at his pathetic attempt. It was difficult to move in Croc’s grasp.  
Once released, his arm jerked back from tension.  
He noticed his guest’s attire. It was painfully familiar.  
“I see you have been to Arkham.”  
He frowned.  
“I always hated their food,” he went back to grinning, “And I’m English.”  
\----  
Croc would watch his arm as he gripped his hand tight, crocs entire hand covered hatters as he let go soon after, letting it rest by his side.  
Croc snarled as he mentioned the sewer "oh? And what seems to be the problem with the sewer... When you have a body to dispose of them the sewers the best place in the world.." He said walking past him as he continued roaming the abandoned theater, glancing at everything  
"yes... arkham, the joker got me out... and I didn't mind the food.. as they did feed me dead pigs.." He said as he cracked his neck, the water trail soon stopped as he was dry. Croc could last for a while without water as he didn't really need it now.  
"and don't worry your little head... I'm only here until the cops die down.."  
\----  
The Mad Hatter let out a manic guffaw. “Ohohoh-Oh! But, I certainly don’t look like a man…” He clutched his chest dramatically, “...Who could handle the sewers.” He slid his other hand down his face. “And murder....I don't think I ever could...” He was like a character in a play.  
He trailed behind his guest, keeping a safe distance.  
“A man fed like a king, it seems.” He was lucky the crinkling of his nose was not visible to the backside of a crocodile. However, it was more due to the mention of him than of dinner. The Mad Hatter did not address it; there would be no talk of The Joker in Wonderland.  
Killer Croc’s peaceful reassurance did not prompt The Mad Hatter to get much closer. It did, however, allow him to feel more expressive.  
Perhaps too much so.  
“Who are you possibly running from? Lowly police? Why, The Batman has not shown his face for love nor money!” His arms lifted into the air. “Surely a man your size and power should fear nothing! The world is your oyster now! Your sewer!” The tapping of his footsteps danced about as he did, creeping closer...  
The Mad Hatter would have crashed into Killer Croc with one more step if he hadn’t caught himself. He looked up at his awesome guest.  
He placed a hand near his mouth.  
He realized what he just implied; the world was Croc’s playground and that included Wonderland.  
\----  
Croc continued talking and sighed listening to the mad hatter, he really did seem mad to Croc and that was something he never thought he would think. He listened to the hatter about the Batman and that the world is his play ground before slowly shaking his head.  
"they've uped their game, explosives, explosive rounds.. i would've killed them easily.. but i have my own people to protect... and if I stayed there they would have perished.." he said looking back at the hatter that kept getting closer and closer, he shook his head and looked back straight.  
" i dont care about the city, I only need my sewer and that's it... I want to live a peaceful life where no one can bother me.. But I'm in arkham.. Where every cop somehow finds me and attacks... And trust me, I'll leave the city takeover to someone who can handle it.. "  
He would soon stop as he sat down on one of the seats as he was actually sitting on two, he leaned back and looked at Hatter  
"so you have an army of animal slaves? at least they're not scared of me, meaning you have a good batch of soldiers at your hand.." Croc said wiping some blood off his mouth, he could really go for a human but knew it was too risky to go outside so he stayed inside and looked around before looking back at Hatter  
" what can you do... I have my... well you see what I have.. scarface has a lot of goons and a tommy gun... joker is unkillable and a psychopath, bane is a powerhouse.. And you are?"  
\----  
When Croc made himself comfortable, The Mad Hatter remained still.  
His eyes softly widened.  
Was it really that much of a danger out there?  
“I…” he responded with care, “I think we all want to live a peaceful life. But the world is not.” He spun around slowly, arms up. “So, then, I simply created all of this, a few years ago.”  
He stepped forward to approach his guest. His gait was more confident.  
“The abandoned theatre was remodeled during a time I was at my worst.”  
He sat down beside Croc on a large model mushroom. It crunched when his body pressed on it. “I once kidnapped Commissioner Gordon for money, you know. It was here I held him.”  
He tittered softly. “I was mad, then.”  
In a sudden mood swing, he shook his head and rested his hand on his chest again. “But that does not mean I don’t feel love!” He leaned in. “I understand you! We do not want to commit crimes! But society makes us! There are people we care about!”  
Breathing a little too quickly, he had to relax himself.  
“Oh, you are right. I do have quite the…family, as you have seen. I created them, too.” He rose both arms, posing them as if to clap his hands together.  
“Wonderland is open to you, if you like. As I said earlier, I was about to have tea. Care for some?”  
He looked at his guest. “Hmmm. Kidnapping, a Wonderland…What, exactly, do I do?”  
He then clapped twice. “Someone makes us a brew and some biscuits! We’ve been waiting!”  
A wide grin spread across his face. A bizarre cackle escaped his lips.  
“It is not so much what I do, but what they do…and how I make them do it!”  
\----  
Croc listened to him, turning his head to the mad hatter. He looked around the theater again as he didn't see any wonder land.  
"kidnapped commissioner gordon? a lot of people have done that… i really didn't understand why batman saved that fool.. if he was dead life would be easier."  
Croc would shake his head at the tea as he sighed "does it look like i drink tea? besides i will not be taking any liquid from you.."  
He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, he was confused about the mascots as he really didn't understand them.  
"why did you make animal mascots.. i do not see a reason for them, you could've made something scarier... like serial killers or something"  
He shrugged and slowly looked back at the mad hatter as he slowly stood up and growled, sniffing the air.  
"blood.. i smell blood..." he said as he started walking around, sniffing around and going about the theater again.  
\----  
Anything about this Wonderland was almost inside Jervis’ head. The soulless props and equally empty actors were brimming with life to The Mad Hatter.  
He shrugged, neither offended nor disappointed. “Very well then, more for me.”  
The Mad Hatter tapped his chin. Why was Gordon of such importance? It had to be special if stealing him did bring the Batman to Hatter.  
“I don’t know. Maybe he loved Gordon. Oh ho ho ho ho.” He waved his hand in front of his mouth like a giggling lady of the Victorian era. “Either way, I never got my money.”  
He shook his head. “Bah.”  
The Mad Hatter took off his hat and twirled it about.  
“Ah. Why do you see they are The Walrus. The Carpenter. Bill the Lizard.” He inhaled, “The Red Queen. What is Wonderland without its resi-“  
His eyes squinted.  
“Wot.”  
That was not possible; the only ones in the theatre were alive and well.  
He jumped up.  
“Well, The Walrus did have a fall when you brought water in.”  
He listened around; there was nothing his limited senses could pick up. That did not mean there was nothing.  
\----  
Croc walked around sniffing the air as he growled lowly, he smelled blood but he didn't know where.  
"i dont think a walrus can bleed from a fall.. If they can, then they really are weak animals..."  
He soon stopped searching and went back to the seat and sat down.  
"besides.. i didn't smell walrus blood.. it was human.. i can tell the difference"  
He leaned forward and supported himself by putting his upper arms on his knees and sitting slouched..  
"Tell me Hatter... Have you met any other villains? Because if so I would like to know which one you've met.."  
He turned his head to the hatter and simply stared at him.  
\----  
The Mad Hatter laughed and laughed. "Oh, but of course you smelled human blood! The Walrus, why he is a man in a mascot suit!" He leaned in and snapped his fingers. "Your nose it does know, my scaly friend!"  
His laughter ceased immediately. He put his hand to his mouth. "Oh but, I do hope he is alright. I don't want to have to bother with getting a replacement."  
Once the mystery was solved, as far as Hatter could care, he sat right in front of his guest. His legs then crossed.  
"Since Batman's disappearance, you are the first." He took off his hat. "But inside Arkham, why, I have met quite a few! Worked with them, even!"  
He stuck out a hand, balled into a fist.  
"Two-Face, that Harley girl, Poison...Ivy..."  
He stuck out a digit with each name.  
"Mr.Freeze, Oh! Jonathan Crane!" Both his hands opened in excitement. "Decent bloke, we played chess."  
One name was not mentioned, bringing almost as much hate as the Batman…  
\----  
Croc was a little surprised that the mascots were actually humans in suits, he thought they were actual animals from first glance, but guess he was wrong  
"huh.. If he only fell he should be alright.. Unless you got someone weak to play the seal.. Then I'd gladly eat him.." He said with a slight growl, he listened to the hatter name the names of villains and slowly nodded.  
"what about joker? I'm pretty sure every villain has met him… and if you haven't.. its surprising, considering he counts as one of the hot shot villains'' Croc would lean back and cross his arms, looking around the theater.  
"if we want to rule Gotham.. we need to get every villain to band together and attack at once.. wiping the police department out first and then the rest of the people who oppose us.."  
\----  
Jervis lifted a brow. "Eat him? Bah, dump him at the nearest hospital and be done with it." He chuckled, "And people said I'm mad."  
And he was mad. He was mad only when a few things happened. He was mad when he lost his love. He was mad when he wanted Batman to live another life. He was mad when the Joker was present even in spirit.  
"That waste of carbon?" He crossed his arms. "Oh, of course I have! I just rather pretend I didn't."  
Snapping, his tone became aggressive.  
"Whatever that poor girl sees in him I'll never know! How can he have a woman when I am not allowed! I have a question for God!"  
He waved his fist at the ceiling. "Why?!"  
He huffed for a while, his yell echoed through the theater.  
"My friend..." he said between breaths, "What would I do with a share of Gotham? I have Wonderland all to myself!"  
He wiped his brow, such a reaction to mention of Joker was something he had to work on.  
\----  
Croc would watch the mad hatter talk about Joker, bad move considering Croc had some respect for Joker. Once Hatter stopped talking about Joker, one of his hands would crush a nearby seat like a soda can.  
"whatever you're vendetta is with the joker.. drop it.. he's the main reason why so many villains are out"  
Croc stood back up and cracked his shoulders and arms  
"that's a question no one knows how to answer... only the people who know who's behind the mask will know"  
Croc started to make his way to the exit, he couldn't last much longer in wonderland with the hatter and not go crazy himself.  
"with your share of gotham.. you can increase your wonderland and make it even bigger.."  
\----  
Jervis' face crinkled much like the chair. He wanted to tell the other to stop; however he'd never risk his own life for such things.  
"Of course he has let us out at some point. I have worked with him. More than once, in fact." He tried to keep his cool. He tapped his fingers on the floor with a nervously paced rhythm . "But he has also hurt me. I can never forgive him. However, I will leave it at that." He rolled his fingers into a ball, scraping the floor. The Mad Hatter was not about to start a stupid fight. He was, however, not going to let The Joker win even in conversation.  
He watched his guest make his way to leave. A part of him relaxed, yet another part knew he'd be left alone to think...about The Joker.  
Jervis rose to his feet and bowed. "I do not need such a massive Wonderland. The more there is, the more of a hassle it will be to maintain. I am a reasonable man."  
He grinned and followed behind Croc. His gloved hand slowly motioned toward the exit the other man was aiming for.  
"And you don't seem like someone who wants to be in Wonderland.” 

  
\----  


**The Croc Tank**  


Croc had silently snuck back into the sewers, he still wore the arkham uniform. There weren't many clothes that fit him, so the uniform was just perfect. He had blood covering his entire jaw and arms. He had been busy taking care of some business.  
Once in the sewer he went into the water, with a groan as he let his eyes poke out of the water and his nose. He slowly was being pushed by the small stream as he slept, soon hitting a wall as he opened his eyes. He saw his people.  
He had his own society down here that he protected and they protected him. He was met by a cop, hanging upside down from his legs, looking down at Croc with fright in his eyes.  
Croc lowly ground and submerged under water, before flying straight up and eating the cop and going back down, the people cheering and going back to their normal duties. Croc went back to sleep.


	2. Two-Face

**Two Face’s Hideout**

Harvey’s life, for the most part, was rather quiet. That was, until his anger, his negativity, his other personality, named Two-Face, became more frequent in his thoughts, his actions, his being.  
Now, his life had never been so hectic. From lawyer to criminal, a mentally insane one at that. Harvey sometimes wished he could go back to the D.A. days. When he promised he’d make Gotham a better place.  
Hah, look at how that turned out, said a deep voice coming from his head.  
Harvey took a large gulp of his liquor, taking an equally large drag of his cigar. His attempts to silence Two-Face failed, as he just became louder.  
Harvey wished he could turn back time.  
Two-Face screamed and shouted, wanting to take control.  
It was hectic. All of it. Every single day.  
\----  
“Hello!”  
“Good day!”  
Not a single passerby was exempt from The Mad Hatter’s greetings. It was his first day outside, his first day of freedom.  
“Top of the morning!”  
A few people backed off, others stared in a cold fear.  
“Hello, my dear!”  
A young woman touched her head in a panic when he merely bowed to her.  
He couldn’t help but frown. His reflection in a store window caught his attention. He examined it moving his body to get a view of every angle. He turned his body when he saw another person behind him, walking his dog. He got really close to the stranger, tapping his cheek. “Is there something on my face?” The little dog barked, making Jervis step back into the window.  
“Only a crazed look, pal.” The man pointed at The Mad Hatter before walking on.  
A pathetic moan from Jervis followed the insult. Why couldn’t anyone else see what a great day it was? He carried on, glancing in every window to check on his appearance. He was a little paranoid now.  
He checked his hat in the first window, then his hair. By the third window, he checked his former fellow inmate. Jervis could see what was almost clearly Two-Face. He seemed agitated, although that was nothing out of the ordinary.  
“What is this? Curiouser and curiouser.”  
Maybe it was because he was feeling a little lonely; maybe he was just a little mad.  
Jervis gave a timid knock on the door of Two-Face’s hideout.  
\----  
Harvey was fighting with himself in his head, as usual.  
The knock broke him from his thoughts. He sighed heavily and stood up, straightening his suit jacket before going over to the heavy metal door. Harvey opened it, seeing...  
“Tetch. What the hell are ya doin’ here?” He asked, a bit annoyed by being disturbed. He put a hand on his gun, which was in its usual place, attached to his belt. Harvey was ready to shoot the other man in a heartbeat, had he done one thing out of line.  
\----  
Jervis smiled when his knocks were answered.  
“Oh, please. Call me The Mad Hatter!” He was oblivious to Harvey’s annoyance, almost desperate for some conversation that wasn’t one sided.  
“I was just in the area. Have you heard the great news? The Batman has completely vanished!”  
He clapped his hands and laughed, “Oh ho ho ho ho! Was it your doing?" He pointed his fingers to his own temple like a gun, "Did you blow his head off? The coin was tails and he died?”  
Jervis did eventually see Harvey 's hand resting on his side. His excitement and smile faded a little, now getting cautious.  
\----  
“Unfortunately, no.” He mumbled, Two-Face was now responding. “But it is good to hear that we’ll have some peace for once.”  
He finally raised his brow at him. “That’s why you’re here? Just to say that to us?”  
\----  
Jervis gulped when he was interrogated. Why was he here? Sometimes his madness baffled even himself.  
“W-well, I saw you in your window and-“  
That didn’t sound creepy at all.  
He sighed a little dramatically. “I’ll admit; I am a little lonely.” He pinched his fingers to emphasize how 'little'. It was a lie. “Mindless servants don’t offer much conversation.”  
\----  
Jervis rested both his hands on his chest. He did this quite a lot.  
“Well, you are the first person I saw today who I knew!” He pointed to the streets and the pedestrians behind him. His voice became a little hurt. “I tried to make friends but no one wants anything to do with me!”  
He took a step forward, too wrapped up in emotion to be careful.  
\----  
Harvey stepped back in response, glaring down at him. “That’s because you’re batshit crazy. You probably scarred everyone on the street by lookin’ at ‘em.”  
He still kept his hand on one of his guns, just in case Tetch tried anything violent.  
\----  
“Gasp.”  
Jervis’ pupils shrank. He nearly fell over from such harsh words.  
“No, no, don’t say that! That is not true!” He grabbed his hat and pulled it down to cover his eyes. "Please take that back!"  
\----  
“Too late, Tetch.” He rolled his eyes.  
This was all just an act, he thought to himself. Shut the door and be done with him. But he stood there, awaiting his reaction.  
\----  
Jervis clenched his hat, shaking.  
He growled a little, then looked up with tears forming in the corners of his eyes.  
“No! It is not too late! It is never too late!”  
He pointed up, hesitating before continuing, “I don’t say cruel things to you, or anyone else! Why are you so mean? Wouldn’t you know how this feels?”  
He flung his arms apart and shook his head. “I’m sure everyone wants to have an ol’ chat with Two-Face!”  
\----  
He widened his eyes slightly, genuinely shocked at his reaction. He let go of his gun, putting his hands up a bit. Harvey came back into control now.  
“Mad Hatter, just... calm down.” The change in his voice was drastic. It was no longer the deep, menacing growl of Two-Face.  
\----  
Jervis stood there, catching his breath. It truly was sad, being a grown man crying so easily.  
A gloved finger wiped a few tears away.  
He could tell by the other man’s vocal change that it was Harvey Dent in control. He had remembered such things in Arkham. He much preferred it when Harvey was around.  
“H-Harvey,” he began, voice weak, “I am so sorry for such an outburst.” He wiped more tears. “Look at me, The Batman is gone and yet I still shed tears.”  
\----  
Harvey frowned slightly. He couldn’t help but feel at least a tiny bit bad for him.  
Two-Face, of course, objected to this. Harvey internally told him to shut up at this point, mustering a sympathetic smile at Jervis.  
“It’s alright.” He simply replied, looking past Tetch’s shoulder and out to the streets, in case the GCPD had seen them yet.  
\----  
Jervis lowered his hat to his chest and bowed. “Ah, I am still sorry.”  
He saw Harvey look past and turned to do the same. “What are you watching for?”  
Jervis didn’t watch his back outside; he was so caught up in Batman’s absence he didn’t think twice of any other danger. "Is someone there? Are you expecting a guest?"  
\----  
“Cops. They’ll probably be twice as cautious as they usually are, because of the Bat’s departure.” He gazed down at Tetch before sighing quietly.  
“I’d suggest you get inside before they do see us.” He stepped sideways a bit, to let him in if he wanted.  
\----  
Jervis blinked. He was kind of dazed, shocked by not having been so cautious. He had remembered Killer Croc having police on his tail; yet the cops never crossed his own mind.  
“Oh my, that is correct.” He looked at the passageway Harvey made for him. “That…never occurred to me.” He laughed weakly and blushed in complete humiliation as he entered Harvey’s hideout.  
\----  
He closed the door behind him, and turned to Jervis.  
“Don’t you have some hypnotisation studying to do or sum’n?” He asked rather casually, stepping towards him.  
\----  
Jervis waved a hand, not facing his host. “Bah.”  
He put the same hand behind his back and turned around. “It’s perfected, as far as I’m concerned. I say jump? My servants don’t even ask how high. They already know.”  
He took the first vacant seat he saw. “And quite frankly I have no desire to break any more laws.” He rested one elbow on the arm of the chair and cupped his face in his hand. “Well except brainwashing my staff.”  
\----  
He grunted, not exactly caring about what the other said.  
“Just don’t brainwash me. Or a bullet will go through your head.”  
\----  
His face dropped. "Oh, no. Harvey, I would never do that."  
He shook his head, adding, "When have I ever brainwashed an inmate?"  
There was a pause and a squeak escaped him.  
He rubbed his head. "Other than that time we held a trial...and on a few escape attempts-Oh, I am only here for a chat!"  
He hoped he didn't mess that up.  
His face dropped. "Oh, no. Harvey, I would never do that."  
He shook his head, adding, "When have I ever brainwashed an inmate?"  
There was a pause and a squeak escaped him.  
He rubbed his head. "Other than that time we held a trial...and on a few escape attempts-Oh, I am only here for a chat!"  
He hoped he didn't mess that up.  
\----  
Harvey frowned. Tetch seemed suspicious, on-edge. But he figured he’d take a chance.  
“Fine. You can stay for a bit.” He said rather simply, looking away from him to pick up his drink.  
\----  
He gave his host a big grin. "Oh callooh, callay! Thank you for letting me stay!"  
It smelled of cigar smoke in there; Jervis worried it would get into his coat. He gave it a subtle sniff. "So, my friend, by the scent of it in here I see you have been taking it easy as of late?"  
He removed his hat and rested it on his lap. "I've had so much free time, it has become more of a curse than a blessing." He let out a long, winded "oh..."  
\---  
Harvey shrugged slightly in response. “Done a few jobs here ‘n there... but nothin’ too serious.”  
His voice changed again. Two-Face wanted to butt into the conversation. “It’s nothin’ compared to what I wanna do.” He almost growled at Tetch, gripping the glass tightly.  
\----  
Jervis nodded as he listened. "Ah, we all have things we want to do."  
His eyebrows furrowed as Two-Face squeezed the glass.  
"However, it can be good to recognize if what we want to do is truly what we need to."  
Jervis flinched and covered the lower half of his face at his bold suggestion. His eyes peered at his host, anxious about his response.  
\----  
Two-Face wanted to launch at him, but Harvey quickly took over again.  
He took a deep breath, loosening his grip and taking a sip from the glass.  
“True.” He replied calmly, but was arguing with himself in his mind.  
\----  
Jervis inhaled audibly when Harvey gave an nonthreatening reply. "And, I must admit, there is not much we need to do anymore now that Batman is gone."  
Jervis shifted in his chair. "If he was the reason we became this way..." He played with his hat, looking down, "T-then now that he's no more, maybe we don't have to be...as you once said, freaks and monsters?"  
He shrugged with a sheepish grin, a little surprised he was able to say that  
\----  
Two-Face hummed, not exactly agreeing with him.  
“Or we can cause more chaos than ever. I don’t think there’s any turning back. At least, not for me...”  
Jervis leaned forward, speaking quickly. "But for what---- reason? Money? Love?"  
He stopped for a second.  
"What good is senseless wreckage? Batman was our usual target if there was one, and now there's none!"  
He was getting over excited again.  
"And what about your fi-"  
He stopped himself. He knew damn well bringing past romantic love interests would only cause more harm. He merely squeaked again in fear.  
\----  
Harvey widened his eyes at Tetch, stepping towards him.  
“What did you say?” His voice was laced with the deep growl of Two-Face. If anyone were to bring up his fiancée, after all this time... they would be in for a world of hell.  
\---  
Jervis leaned into the chair. He wanted to lean so far into it he'd burst through the fabric.  
"Well...I um..." He slapped his hat back on, pulling it down forcefully.  
"Nothing! No one! Forget what idiocy I dared mumble!"  
\---  
Harvey clenched his jaw, attempting to calm down both himself and Two-Face.  
He eventually let out a sigh, finishing the last of his drink before setting it down on the table. He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.” He said quietly, sitting on another chair.  
“The cops’ll still look for us, without the Bat’s assistance. They’ll still lock us up. We still have a reason for tearing this city apart.”  
\----  
Jervis slowly, so slowly, lifted his hat up. What the other was saying was a painful truth.  
"If we aren't doing anything illegal, they won't..." While he tried to argue the matter, the thoughts of his servants' families filled his head.  
He was committing a jailable offence.  
He stared ahead.  
"I'm not cut out for actual jail."  
Arkham was one thing; at least it was a medical care facility. But would the police just put him in prison? He'd be someone's Alice.  
\----  
“We’ve both been in Arkham more than once. They’ll put us back in there if we do our usual thing... right?”  
Harvey was actually looking for reassurance.  
This was something he had never done before... at least not for a good while. Sure, he would look towards his coin for decisions regarding his crimes, but now he was looking for real, human reassurance.  
\----  
Jervis nibbled on the ends of his gloved hand. The fabric squished between his jaws.  
He squinted; a long, drawn out squeal was forced from his lips.  
"Why would they?" He looked at Harvey, "Why would they care to have us in treatment? If we keep doing what we do, what's the point?"  
He fiddled with his hands.  
\----  
“Well... because they have to. They gotta make us “better” by law!” He said, looking down at the floor and trying to reassure himself at this point.  
He gazed at Mad Hatter.  
“They gotta at least try...”  
\----  
Jervis began to nervously laugh. "Yes, I suppose so."  
He adjusted his outfit and sat up straight.  
"You are the expert of the law, after all!"  
He tapped his chin, in thought. "True, try is the key word. Why, I don't recall ever being caught by the police alone."  
\----  
Two-Face smiled faintly, sitting more relaxedly in his seat. “Right, because you’re down on the records as mentally insane and not cured yet.”  
He poured himself another drink, and sighed calmly as he sipped it.  
\----  
Jervis slumped down, crossing his arms. He tapped his arm.  
"Indeed. Insane." He frowned and closed his eyes.  
He plucked the single card from the rim of his hat. He lowered it to eye height and studied it. "Batman's fault." He tossed it dismissively; it slid under a table.  
"Any of that for me?" He sneered and eyed the alcohol. "All this talk of prison has made me need some."  
\----  
He hummed, sliding an empty glass over towards him and pouring him some.  
“Just don’t go overboard with it. This shit comes from my own money.”  
\---  
Jervis nodded in thanks. His hand graced the cup's rim, tapping it.  
"I'll do my best, my friend." He took a sip. "But I must warn you, blue eyed people have a high alcohol tolerance..."  
He tittered and looked at the contents of the glass.  
"I'm sure I have something from England I can share with you."  
He gave Harvey a joyful grin.  
"Or you can have the rum I sometimes put in my special-tea."  
\----  
“I like the sound of that rum.” He smiled.  
Harvey always enjoyed alcohol, no matter what kind or where it came from  
\---  
Jervis laughed. He was starting to have a good time; some real company.  
His eyes lit up as he spontaneously gave an invite.  
"Come to Wonderland sometime, Harvey! It's the abandoned theatre I had remodeled. We can have rum and tea and chat the day away! Anything you want, my servants will bring!"  
Jervis was talking as though he had made a proper friend. This could very well be but a delusion; he was prone to them. Either way, he felt a little less lonely and a little less repulsive.  
\----  
Two-Face raised a brow at him, almost comically. He looked to the side as he was in thought. Eventually he looked back at Tetch.  
“I’ll think about it. We’ll think about it.” He corrected himself.  
\---  
Jervis laughed and took a swig of his drink.  
"I do hope you two come visit. I promise you will feel like kings!"  
He placed the drink down. He saw his reflection in the beverage, however warped. There was nothing wrong with him. He was The Mad Hatter...and he could make friends.  
\---  
“We damn well hope so...” Harvey mumbled, taking another sip of his drink.  
He then crossed his legs over in his seat, watching Tetch curiously as he fiddled with his glass.  
“Somethin’ on your mind?”  
\---  
Jervis looked up from his drink. "Hmm- oh, you know.."  
He straightened and then crossed his legs the same way; mimicry was something people did among friends.  
"Do you ever feel lonely? At the end of the day, does it not bother you to come back to all this, but no one to share it?"  
\----  
Harvey stayed quiet for a moment, now gazing into his own glass. He swirled the dark liquid around slightly, watching the small ripples.  
“Sometimes. I’d usually not think about it, cause I’d be too wrapped up in my own head, ya know...” He gestured to the bad side of his face. Two-Face.  
Harvey chuckled weakly.  
\----  
"Oh-oh..."  
Jervis removed his hat again, this time placing it on the floor beside his seat.  
"If I may ask, does stimulation like this help you...stay focused? I found that it does, if it's the right company of course."  
He unbuttoned his overcoat; heat was setting in. He draped it around the back of the chair. Now he could get more comfortable.  
"I'm sorry, it's a little warm in here to be wearing this." He smiled, now completely of no threat to Harvey. No cards, guns, nothing.  
\----  
He watched as Tetch started taking off his jacket, looking for any sign of weapons on him. There were none, so he settled back in his seat.  
“Talkin’ like this helps me stay in control. There’s less... switches, I guess.” He took another sip.  
\----  
"Ah! Well that certainly is something!" Jervis swung a pointing hand, balling his fist when it reached his chest.  
"Probably better than any 'therapy' they gave us at Arkham!"  
He picked up his drink and shook it slowly in Harvey's direction, the liquid nearly tipping from the glass. "I'm ever so glad those are over!  
\-----  
Harvey huffed slightly. “Yeah... It was nice to torment the guards though. Always keepin’ ‘em on their toes.”  
He chuckled as he reminisced a bit, before taking another sip. He watched Tetch nearly spilling his own drink, eyeing him warningly.  
\----  
Jervis lowered his glass; he became aware of his reckless swirling. He decided to finish it, so that at least any of his eccentric antics would not end in spillage.  
“Oh, yes. I remember. If they were going to be paid, they’d best work for their money!”  
He bounced the leg that was wrapped over the other. He laughed at the memories.  
“I guess it wasn’t always bad, every day.”  
\----  
Harvey nodded slightly as he finished his own drink.  
“Arkham ain’t the worst place. Sometimes it seems better, less lonely than here.”  
\----  
Jervis gently returned his empty glass. His eyes lidded, a half smile was given to his host.  
"Yes. Sometimes it does."  
The very window that blessed him with this encounter filled the middle of the room with light, right between the two men.  
“Well, my friend,” Jervis stood up. “I do not want to overstay my welcome.” He collected his things; even the card he had tossed away earlier. “It has been such a lovely time.”  
He removed his hat and bowed politely. “Do remember, the invitation still stands.”  
Once outside, he took a good look at the city in front of him.  
All those people who sneer, point fingers and run away. He could kill every one of them. He could own every one of them. He was one of Gotham’s finest villains.  
The city took so much from him. It was not just The Batman.  
He had every right and every way to get what he felt was owed to him. What could they possibly do about it? Without their protector, he was untouchable.  
Harvey was right; they were always going to be deemed insane.  
Perhaps it was true.  
He grinned.  
In Wonderland, we’re all mad here.  
\---  
Harvey didn’t say anything as he watched Tetch leave, he merely nodded.  
He stayed where he was, in his seat, deep in thought.  
Maybe he could go to Wonderland at some point. What would he have to lose? Plus there was already talk of alcohol being there, so as far as Harvey was concerned, it was good enough.  
Two-Face had wanted to rip the man to shreds for the duration of his stay, but settled down slightly when he had left.  
Both of them were alright, for once. Harvey wondered how long it would stay that way.  
\----

**Dollmaker’s Abandoned Pharmacy**

Barton stood in the old building he calls his hideout, slowly tapping his foot on the tile floor, clearly waiting for something, as if on queue a large man with patchwork skin walks in a woman slung over his shoulder, right behind him a lady in a nurse outfit with a doll mask holding a sledgehammer walks in, the patchwork man throws the lady down on the table "Ah good work children" Barton says with a smile when he sees the unconscious lady on the table, the women in the nurse outfit tilts her head "I was the one that knocked her out, I should get to do this one!" She wines, Barton just shakes his head "No Matilda, this one is damaged, it requires perfect precision if we want the best price" The lady in the nurse outfit Matilda nods and steps back, Barton puts on medical gloves and first starts doing the lady's hair and made up making her doll like, then he cuts her open and starts to remove the internal organs. He puts then in a cooler filled with ice so they can stay fresh, he looks at Matilda.

"Is the client on their way yet?" She only nods in response. Barton then stitches the woman back up, and admires his handy work "Look at her now children" All the members of dollmakers family, including a thing that looks like a monkey with symbols and what looks like a crawler zombie come out of a hallway and look at the corpse, which looks very much like a porcelain doll  
\----  
Harvey went out that night, drunk out of his mind(s). He was stumbling about, kicking down innocent civilians’ doors, and taking whatever was of value. His goons weren’t with him, as he had just left his hideout unexpectedly.  
Then he came across a door, but it wasn’t like the others. It was hidden in the shadows, yet Harvey could see it. He staggered over to it, starting to simply use his brute force to break it down, ready to loot whatever was in there.  
He broke the door off its hinges, and he traipsed in. What he saw was not expected in the slightest. It was the Dollmaker’s hideout. He scanned the scene as best he could in his drunken state, seeing the man himself at the operating table, along with, no doubt, some creations of his. He noticed what Dollmaker was doing to the woman on the table, and he stumbled forward, shouting out in an obvious two-toned voice.  
“Well, I have just concluded that your security is absolutely shit!”  
\----

Barton quickly turns around a confused and angry expression on his face  
"WHO ARE YOU?! AND NO IT'S NOT!" The large patchwork man charges toward Harvey and attempts to grab him. At the same time the crawler tries to jump on Harvey's head from behind  
(This next part is only if the patchwork man is successful)  
Barton looks at his 'son' (The patchwork man) with a look of pride, most of his angry disappearing "Good job Orifice, put him on the other table, make sure he is strapped in tight." And The patchwork man Orifice, does as he is told and brings Harvey over to the table  
\----  
He struggled, trying to break free of Orfice’s grip.  
“Get off me, you... you freak!” He slurred, failing at his pathetic attempt.  
He looked over at Dollmaker as he was being dragged. “I don’t think we need an operation...” He murmured drunkenly, looking around the room.  
\----  
Orifice was much bigger and stronger than Harvey so his struggling wouldn't do too much, then he forcefully puts Harvey on the table and straps him in. Barton narrows his eyes and walks over to Harvey  
"Your two-face, so an operation won't be needed. I'm just going to sell you to the highest bidder, as long as they bring you back within an hour of death"  
Bartons leans down, inspecting Harvey and he grabs his chin. The doll obsessed man turns Harvey's head so he can get a better look at the burned side  
"Or maybe I could not do that, and try to...fix you"  
\----  
Harvey tried to bite the man’s fingers as he moved his head, wanting to escape. He was growling like a rabid dog.  
“Get your filthy paws offa me! You ain’t fixin’ nothin’!” He protested loudly, trying to pull his arms up and break the straps, but they seemed to be too strong.  
\----  
Barton was just quick enough to move his hand away in time to not get bitten. He only gets a sick smile  
"That isn't up to your Harvey..." Barton quickly slaps the burned side of Harvey's face, pulling his hand away directly after  
"Don't you want that to be gone, and it to just look...right?"  
\----  
Harvey hissed in pain in response to the slap, writhing and shifting around a bit.  
“No! Even if I did, I wouldn’t want you doin’ an operation on me!” Harvey snarled, baring his teeth at Dollmaker.  
\----  
Barton smiles slightly at Harvey's reaction "Now why is that?" He says with a slight chuckle, amused at the situation  
\----  
“Cause you’re a sick son of a bitch! You wouldn’t even help me with my face in the first place, would ya?” He glared at him.  
\---  
Barton narrow his eyes, his expression being one of anger  
"I would! I have no reason not to!" He then storms off and comes back with a cooler, he opens it and pulls out a face with a similar skin tone to Harvey's "See! We shall get started very soon!"  
\----  
Harvey yelled out in frustration as he pulled and tugged as hard as he could, but the straps wouldn’t budge. He eventually stopped, carefully watching the Dollmaker to see what he did.  
\----  
Barton puts the face in the cooler and shuts it, then he pulls out a marker and starts making marks around the burned part of Harvey's face  
\---  
Two-Face certainly did not like being drawn on, and neither did Harvey. Two-Face wanted to take control and break free somehow, but Harvey stopped himself and decided to go with a more civil plan.  
\---  
“Hey, wait, Barton! Heh, ya don’t have to do this. I’ll do anything’ for ya if ya just untie me!”  
\----  
Barton pauses, and pulls back his arm, as much as he liked performing surgery he also liked money  
"150,000 dollars and a goon to perform surgery on." He bluntly says  
\-----  
“Done!” He replied quickly, not even thinking twice about his offer. But it sounded good enough, and Harvey could easily take 150,000 dollars worth of valuables. He shifted where he was again, wanting to be free from the straps.  
\----  
“Done!” He replied quickly, not even thinking twice about his offer. But it sounded good enough, and Harvey could easily take 150,000 dollars worth of valuables. He shifted where he was again, wanting to be free from the straps.  
\----  
He sighed in relief as he was taken off the table and carried outside. He then turned around, trying to see the Dollmaker. “Hey! When do ya want the money and goon?”  
\----  
Orifice stopped and turned toward Barton  
"Within a week" Barton calmly says, he just starts looking around  
Two-Face quickly brushed himself off before taking his coin out and flipping it. It landed on the clean side.  
He sighed. Back to the hideout. He stumbled down the street, trying to decide which one of his goons he hated the most to give to Dollmaker.


	3. The Joker

**Gotham City Police Department**

A kitten stalked a ball. One step, two step and pounce; that was no toy. It unfurled with a pop and an armadillo stuck its head out making the kitten jump nearly 2 feet into the air.  
“Hey Ryan, check this out!” A police officer twirled his chair to face his partner, who had just approached him from behind.  
Doughnut crumbs flew from the officer’s mouth. “This cat thinks that’s yarn!”  
His partner stared at the screen with a flat affect, giving no feedback when the video replayed.  
The officer raised a brow. “A-Ain’t it a hoot? The other guys seem to think so, right?” He looked around the police station. His colleagues merely gazed blankly at their computer screens.  
The officer very slowly looked up at his partner. Before he could process anything, his eyes became vacant, too.  
His partner’s hand gently cupped the side of the officer’s head. Once it retreated, a white card rested snug in the space between his ear and skull.  
He stood up.  
He faced the entrance of the police department and walked toward the doors, his partner in tow.  
The two men tugged at one door each. They opened like the gates of Buckingham palace; their Highness had arrived. Everyone rose from their seats.  
The Mad Hatter waved at the staff as the doors closed behind him.  
He kept one hand behind his back, continuing to trail deeper into the station.  
“Good evening, officers.” He said with a smirk, “I believe you have something for me?”  
\----  
It was bound to happen sooner or later; With no trace of the Batman, Gotham's infamous Rogue Gallery was obviously growing antsy, each member desperate to prove that they didn't need the blasted Batman's attention to feel motivated to do something bad.  
The Caped Crusader's absence meant that everybody and their mothers were fixating on the next best thing: The GCPD, of course, even if they were a rather significant step down from Batman. Doughnut-eating, coffee-guzzling goons more like.  
Contrary to popular belief, Gotham's worst didn't share their plans with one another and reserve days to do their thing without stepping on any toes. And one comedy-crazed lunatic never played by the rules to begin with. So really, no wonder this happened. That didn't make it any less humiliating, at least for the B-list baddie trying desperately to prove he was just as vile as the rest.  
Just as Hatter was beginning to address the crowd of zombies before him, the doors were bumped open, and in came a woman clad in a delivery company's uniform, complete with a hat and a name tag that read "J. KER." She took shuffles for steps as she walked backwards, lugging in a rather heavy-looking box on a dolly that was nearly as tall as she was, and far wider too.  
Once she managed to lug the thing before the boys and girls in blue, she gave Tetch a nice bump with her hip to get him out of her way. "Comin' through. Watch your toes, ya runt." Coming to a stop, she maneuvered the box to face the officers, oblivious to their blank gazes at the moment and plucking up a card placed on the box.  
"Ahem," The blonde cleared her throat to gain some attention, her free hand resting on the dolly, "Delivery for one Mistah J. Gordon." She announced, lifting her head then, her eyebrows furrowing when she noticed nobody reacting to what she was saying. "I said, delivery for one Mistah Gordon. Hellooo?" A scowl formed on her red-painted lips and she just knew that she was screwing up her boss' grand entrance, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.  
"Look alive, boys. Seems like y'could use a little laugh." With that, she pulled open the box, and out sprang a clown-shaped jack-in-the-box, which swayed back and forth a few times with mechanical and maniacal laughter before unleashing gusts of purple mist into the air. Nothing that'd kill them, because that'd be too easy. Just enough to make an unforgettable entrance.  
What neither of Batman's foes had considered was how their little tricks would interact, whether they'd mingle wonderfully or clash horribly. So much for being the center of attention.  
\----  
The Mad hatter hummed. He hummed a tune he’d heard as a child, a piece recognizable only by the British.  
“Hmmm, hmmmm- Ah! Good. You know where it is.” He wrapped an arm around the policeman. “No need to worry; I won’t be very long.”  
He continued his childhood ditty.  
“Hmmm, hmmmm…” He let go of the other man. “You may go back to your coffee as soon as-“  
A wind blew Jervis’ backside. His hat nearly flew off.  
His hand smacked the back of his head, his face in an embarrassing shock from such a start. He slowly, with a creep, turned himself around while still grasping his hat to his head.  
The interruption was followed by a bump to the side. The woman’s words were like salt to a wound. Surely he was no little man; an attempt to pull him from his character would not be taken lightly.  
He nearly tumbled. The officer-his servant- caught him.  
“Oh bugger off! I’m fine!” Hatter pulled away from the man, who took no offence. For the first time, the stoic state brought by his technological spell was fuelling his anger. He wanted to strike the zombie of a man. He raised his arm.  
He stopped.  
“Sh-! Wait.” He spoke in but a whisper to his minion. “I know that voice.” What was going to be a slap became a tug and clasp on the man’s chin. He turned his slave’s face to look at her.  
Jervis let her speak, to have her moment. He did feel terribly sad for her. For wherever she was, he was sure to follow, and to abuse. It was not his lady who The Mad Hatter would love to make his very first beheading.  
He was no stranger to the Joker’s ways. A nuisance in Arkham was a total pest in Gotham. Without Batman, there was no one to exterminate it.  
The Mad Hatter was probably lucky about the spectacle before him. If he was not just a little bit startled he’d probably still have been standing there like one of his brainwashed fools. He dove to the floor and crawled under a desk.  
He eyed the hallway to the evidence rooms. A purple mist wafted about, slowly creeping down that very hall. A gloved hand balled into a fist, wanting to pound the floor.  
The Mad Hatter had only one goal tonight. No clown was going to make party out of his simple errand!  
\----  
"Tough audience." The woman muttered, but seemed satisfied when the mist that shot up into the air seemed to get the goons coughing. Soon, it'd be laughter, and that was always her boss' favorite thing to be greeted by. So she took a step back and pushed the dolly haphazardly out of the way to make room for him, a pearly white grin stretching across her own face.  
"'’And now, a man who needs no introduction," But she was of course going to give him one, lowering herself into a bow and extending an arm, "The Clown Prince of Crime, the Connoisseur of Comedy, the Harlequin of Hate, the Jester of G-" She cut herself off from her passionate rambling when she heard someone clear their throat from behind, taking a hint and cutting to the chase. "The Joker!"  
Quite the introduction indeed. The Joker himself emerged from behind the woman then, and she stepped aside to clear a path for him. His laughter made itself known before he did, echoing throughout the precinct, more of a low cackle than his usual wild laughter, but still just as easy to match to him.  
"And the crowd goes wild!" He tossed his arms up into the air and took several dramatic bows after hopping up on to one of the desks, fueled on by the laughter rising from the crowd and the hoots and hollers from his Harlequin, who eagerly cheered him on. That was obviously nothing new, there was a reason why a narcissist like him brought her everywhere.  
He readjusted his purple tailcoat, tugging on the sides a bit and raising his chin rather arrogantly, a grin stretching across his face from ear-to-ear. "Oh, please. I'm touched. All for me?" He gushed with a hand on his chest, like he was genuinely surprised and flattered by laughter and attention he so obviously demanded.  
He surveyed the crowd then, watching on in glee as several officers began to double over in laughter, tears rising to their eyes. "That's right, ladies and goons. Have a laugh on yours truly. Ooh," He rose his index finger, like a lightbulb just flipped on above his head, "I nearly forgot the greatest party favor of them all!" He stretched out his hand, and Harley easily plopped a little bomb-like contraption with his face on it into his hand.  
Hopping from one desk to another, the clown kicked a stack of paperwork off of the next desk he landed on and struck a little pose with his back straight and the hand with the device in it pressed against his forehead, "Now, now, where is the man of the hour himself? Yoohoo, Commissioner! It's impolite to leave a guest waiting, you know." He called out.  
He was so caught up in his own excitement and his own little world that he was oblivious to the man curled up beneath the desk. It was the Joker's world, and everybody else was just living in it.  
\----  
The laughter. It filled every nook and cranny of the forsaken place. It was like knives twisting their way into Jervis’ ears, jabbing and jabbing until there was only ringing. He wanted to scream at them to stop. He wanted them to listen and just be done with it!  
But he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t say anything. Every muscle in his body was now hard at work with every bit of energy it took to keep him awake. A substance strong enough to warp the minds of those who had their minds already taken was powerful stuff. Jervis knew this. He crushed his nose in a mix of rage and panic; he trembled taking quick, shallow breaths.  
‘And now, a man who needs no introduction…’  
There may have been a way out from the desk, but…  
‘The Joker!’  
The truth was, The Mad Hatter was trapped.  
His vision doubled. He was sweating. The ringing in his ears developed a heavy, rapid beat. Jervis’ heart wanted to rip from his chest; given whatever toxic brew was in the air he was beginning to fear that some of his organs would actually end up on the floor.  
There was a chorus to finish the rhythm in his head. The singer? The clown prince himself.  
Maybe it was the gas, or maybe it was the lack of oxygen. But when he closed his eyes, he could see an image of Joker before him.  
The sounds of the police department bled into his hallucination. The Joker was hollering, it was such a horrifying guffaw. He got closer and closer, holding something.The thing, that thing…The Mad Hatter’s property!  
The closer the figment got, the more Jervis shook. The more Jervis shook, the more breaths he took.  
The sides of his mouth twitched. “Heh…”  
The more breaths he took, the wider that little grin he was forming became.  
“Oh, no, no…he….heh…”  
Tears fell down his cheek. “Pl…ease….n…hohoho….”  
Clunk.  
Paper scattered around the desk. A few sheets spread before Jervis’ feet. It distracted him; his reserved giggling broke out into petrified, distressing laughter. “Oh ho hooo nooo ahhahahaahahahaha! Oh callooh, callay, ahahhaa-“  
Jervis put his hand in front of his face. He bit into his hand, anything to stop it. The white fabric that garnished his attire was staining red.  
The Joker was winning, again.  
\----  
When he received absolutely no response, aside from the laughter that it was a wonder he hadn't joined in on yet, the Clown Prince of Crime's smile dropped into a momentary scowl, much like that of a child who wasn't receiving attention from their parents. "It's a little late to take a lunch break, dear Jimbo!" He called out once more.  
His grand scheme was reliant on Jim Gordon. He was the closest to Batman the Joker would get, and now he was nowhere to be found either? Must the Joker square off with the incompetent buffoons before him? Or worse, with nobody at all?  
"Rocko, Murphy," He snapped his glove-clad fingers towards the two main henchmen who lingered in the doorway like blubbering idiots who had no idea what to do with themselves unless Mr. J gave them commands, "Get a camera ready. Ransom demands weren't my first choice, but hey, what're you going to do? That's showbusiness." He released a giggle and flung his arms up in faux defeat, haphazardly tossing the bomb -- not detonated, mind you. -- in his hand into the air, leaving poor Harley fumbling to catch it with a squeak.  
He wasn't exactly dying for cash, and if he was, a bank would've sufficed, or maybe the local supermarket. But he had learned how to improvise, and he'd do anything to gain some decent attention these days with Batman gone. So why not broadcast this under the guise of demanding a few bucks? A show and a payday.  
"Where can a man find a decent foe these days? Must I put out an ad?" He questioned to nobody in particular, arms extended by his sides in frustration. He paused, however, one eyebrow raising before he snapped his fingers again, this time towards Harley, "That's not a bad idea. Wanted-..." "Where'm I s'posed ta write-..." Before Harley could finish, he waved an absentminded hand at her with a little growl, so obviously not in the mood to deal with her questions right now. "Forget it. Later." He spat.  
He turned away from his sidekick before she could put in her two cents, and before he could spat at his henchmen to hurry up the setup, he took notice to some hysterical laughter beneath him. Not that he didn't expect it, but these cops didn't gain the chance to hide beneath their desks before Harley made her entrance, so this individual must've known something bad was bound to happen.  
The Joker abruptly bent over so he could poke his head beneath the desk without actually hopping off of the desk, his wild eyes widening a bit upon seeing none other than the Mad Hatter struggling to contain his giggles. "Well, drown the children and shoot the neighbors, if it isn't my favorite looney chum!" He exclaimed, that trademark grin of his finding its way upon his face all over again, as if his sour mood had just alleviated within seconds.  
He leaped off of the desk and landed easily on his feet, spinning on his heel so he could bend down, take a hold of Tetch's shoulders, and yank him out of his little hiding spot. "You didn't tell me he was here!" He held on to the Hatter by the shoulders, and Harley smiled rather sheepishly, shoulders drawn up, "Gee, guess I didn't remember 'im."  
"Oh, my dapper little comrade, it's been ages," He gave his shoulder a few rough claps, "Though it's not like you were very... what's the word? Conscious the last time our paths crossed. Too much tea, eh?" He released a smug and knowing laugh, obviously having a field day.  
\----  
“Now, why were there two Jokers?” Their muttering echoed in and out of the Jervis’ head.  
The Mad Hatter looked like a complete wreck. The force from being pulled had him rip off the bitten garment. The crimson splattered glove dangled from his clenched mouth much like he dangled from the Joker’s grasp.  
This was no fine villain, no real rogue. The Joker wasn’t going to have very much fun with this particular catch. This was no different than a cat snagging an already dead bug; what was the point?  
Jervis’ blues were glazed and watery. His pupils had become the size of pinpoints when they were finally fully open. They seemed to dart about, mostly gazing weakly at the Harlequins. It was like he didn’t want to look the two Jokers in eyes, anywhere.  
It took a while of boring silence before the Clown Prince of Crime would be given any kind of response. It was a pretty equal blend of being far too ill and simply not wanting to entertain the creep.  
Tetch furrowed his brow. The energy his body was using was not yet depleted, and this would work in his favour. “Eh, hehehe...he…h..” The glove fell from his parted jaw. It hit a pile of sheets with a little ‘tippf’.  
“Oh ho ho ho ho ho hooo….”He swallowed. It was as though The Joker’s elevated mood was contagious. Of course it was; he had sprayed it all over the place. “You’re entirely bonkers…ahaha…”  
He rose a trembling arm up. His hand, oozing with blood poked the forehead of the white-faced lunatic. It was ruining his appearance and he loved it. With each firm jab, a reddish brown dot appeared. “But I’ll tell…ehehh….you a se-secret…ahahahaha….”  
He motioned the same arm around, as though to draw attention to it. Slowly, it moved to his hat. It jerked once, his fingers scrambling above the card like a spider crawling down a web. His two fingers pinched it.  
He let himself convulsed with laughter.  
Hoping his movement would be a good distraction, he pulled his up knee to try and give the most rule-breaking villain a rather low blow. He didn’t need proper vision to strike something right in front of him.  
If this worked, he could maybe have a chance.


	4. Riddle Me This

**Riddler’s Lair**

Edward Nigma stood peering out through his hideouts tainted and smudged windows. He reconciled on the events that had been happening for the past few days. The police force was utterly confounded by the clues left by the king of conundrums, with Nigma having sheer absolute fun in this game; though as of late, the prince of puzzles had begun to ponder..  
With no-one to match his superior intellect, what fun is there to be had? Mingle amongst the insane? Preposterous!  
Though..  
With his superior knowledge, he could rule Gotham and all of its idiosyncrasies. Easily!  
What are a few thugs and freaks to him? Nothing is what! No man can match wits with The Riddler!  
"Ha-ha!" Edward erupted in a pompous tone  
"Lets see..."  
He looked over to a map of Gotham City strung across the table, with markings of territories of various gangsters and mob-bosses.  
"The eight of us go forth not back to protect our king from a foe’s attack. What am I?"  
He asked himself, chuckling  
"A pawn"  
He said, circling the territory of known criminal leader, Harvey Dent; or as many call him, "Two-Face".  
"Let the games begin~"

**Two-Face’s Hideout**

Edward Nigma stood alone, his cane in hand and his motivations clear. He required some additional aid in his plans, aid he believes that former Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent could lend him. Nigma dawned his bowler hat on his top, with a green trench-coat covering his usual custom suit and tie.  
It didn't take long before Edward found where Dent was holding up; it pays to have loyal informants everywhere. He waltzed up to the door, and proceeded to knock on it with the blunt end of his cane. He took a step back, and awaited the outcome.  
"When is a door not a door?"  
He giggled to himself, his arrogant and cocky tone shining through his teeth  
He adjusted his cap, straightened his coat, and wondered how dear old Harvey would greet him.  
A warm welcome, or a bullet? He had plans for either outcome, but he would much prefer not to be shot at.  
\-----  
Harvey mumbled to himself rather conversationally as he downed another glass of whiskey, possibly planning another attack on the bank. He wanted to take advantage of the Bat’s absence.  
His chat with himself was halted by a sudden knock on his door, and he growled under his breath, standing up from his chair and grabbing his two guns that lay on the table, ready to shoot whoever was at the door, who dared to disturb him.  
He carelessly opened the door, immediately pointing his guns at the guest. He didn’t put them down though, as he realised Edward Nigma was there. He snarled.  
“What the hell do you want, Nigma? And no riddles, or I will put a bullet in your brain.”  
\----  
Nigma was tempted, but didn't bite  
"Harvey~"  
"Good to see you too~"  
Nigma realised his tone may set off the two of them, but he kept his smile  
"I come to you with a proposition~!"  
"Due to our pointy-eared friend having a sudden case of cowardliness, me and you both know Gotham is up for grabs by anyone!"  
He roared flamboyantly  
"I suggest me and you, have a little deal~"  
"Interested..?"  
He asked, tapping his cane on the asphalt  
\----  
Harvey grunted, seemingly thinking about his proposal. The other man’s tone was already irritating the both of them, but he tried to keep his anger under control. He very slowly put the guns down, still keeping his fingers on the triggers though, just in case.  
“So? Why are you coming to me? Don’t you wanna do all that yourself with you oh so intelligent mind?” He asked, snarling a bit at his last remark.  
\----  
"Why yes, my br-r-rilliant mind can take over Gotham as I please..."  
"but.."  
He paused, looking from side to side  
"You, my friend, have the means of getting such a goal~"  
"With my intellect, and your means of enforcement and authority.."  
"..well, lets say the world will be our oyster~" He chuckled  
"After all, two heads are better than one~"  
\----  
Harvey grunted again, now looking away as he thought about it. After a few moments he looked back at him, even cracking a small smile.  
“Alright, I’ll take your deal.”  
\----  
"Wonderful~"  
He holds out his hand for a handshake to solidify the deal  
\----  
He quickly took his hand, shaking it before pulling away just as fast. “We hope you won’t be a selfish bastard and take all of Gotham for yourself in the end.”  
\----  
"No-no-no-no-no, dear Harvey!"  
"In times like these, it's kill or be killed. I would much prefer to be on the winning team~"  
He would adjust his glasses; his smile dimmed slightly, but remained.  
"We both know that the clowm may just as easily attempt to kill us as fast as he released us. Strength in numbers~"  
\----  
He nodded a bit, growing increasingly frustrated by his tone. He still managed to keep himself under control though, sighing every so often as though to get rid of the anger that bubbled inside him.  
“Yeah, yeah. Are you tryna get everyone on your side now, or are we just the lucky ones?”  
\----  
Edward cleared his throat, and shifted his tone. He knew when to be serious, no matter how much fun he is having. Plus it looks like Harvey will hurt him if he doesn't otherwise.  
"While I plan to add, possibly one or two more members to this agreement, you are a needed asset. A bishop in an ever-running game of chess. A piece of the puzzle that simply cannot be lost, or it will be incomplete."  
He looked both ways again, making sure that he wasn't being surveyed  
"But like all chess games, there are two sides. Those who refuse to join.."  
He smiled devilishly  
"They shall be.."pawned off"..so to speak~"  
\----  
He smiled faintly, his ego boosted by his words. Harvey nodded understandingly, now loosening his grip on his guns. He didn’t seem to be much of a danger. For now.  
“Alright. Who are ya thinkin’ of goin’ to next?”  
\----  
"Definitely not to the sewers...I heard what that beast did to the guards at Arkham."  
He sneers a little, before straightening his face  
"Perhaps Crane? His method of "research" could be used to our advantage...so long as he agrees not to use either of us as lab rats.."  
\----  
“You’d have to give him a good deal for that.” He simply said, crossing his arms now. “Mad Hatter could be helpful. What with his methods of hypnosis, maybe.”  
\----  
"Depends if we can convince him to use his technology for something other than his own fantasies."  
He thought for a moment  
"Cobblepot could add some additional firepower...though nobody has seen him as far as I know.."  
"Zsasz is out of the question..."  
He looked to the other man....men?  
"I will see who can possibly be of use to us. In the meantime, It is wise for me to not be seen out in the open with you. Police are scattered everywhere now that he's gone."  
\----  
“Good idea. We don’t wanna be seen with you anyway.” He half-joked, allowing himself to smile and chuckle deeply at his own words.  
“But anyway, you know where to find us when you’re ready.”  
\----  
"Indubitably." Riddler tapped his cane and pushed his bowler hat downward slightly. "I will see the two of you whenever you get that bank job done~"  
With that, Edward Nigma strolled down the street, tapping his cane into the night.  
\----  
Harvey just sighed to himself and closed the door, going back to his seat and continuing with his planning. He found Edward annoying, that was for certain, but he couldn’t deny that he was probably the smartest of the rogues. He couldn’t not help such an intelligent man, especially as he was seeking help.  
\----

**Dark Studio**

He’d never see The Joker again.  
He’d have Alice’s dress.  
He’d have peace in Wonderland.  
Sometimes, he even believed in up to six impossible things before breakfast.  
The Mad Hatter’s chuckles turned to coughs, coughs that beckoned his servants to approach with what could have been concern.  
The Walrus, Billy the Lizard, The Carpenter and The Queen of Hearts. The Mad Hatter was in the center of their congregation, sitting on his throne. He didn’t yell at them or tell them to ‘be gone with it’. Not even a dismissive hand gesture came their way.  
He just kept his head down; eventually his hat lost its grip from his scalp.  
The residents of Wonderland stood still, waiting for the very second their master gave them a command. To pick up the hat, to make him tea. More so, to call for help  
\----  
Harvey had debated whether to actually go to Wonderland for a good while now. Before he talked to Nigma, he wasn’t too keen on going, his only reason for actually wanting to be the promise of alcohol.  
But now he had a better reason. He could convince Tetch to join him and Ed in taking over Gotham once and for all. Harvey decided he could be useful in their plan, what with his means of hypnosis.  
So he went to his hideout, after a few hours prior debating and trying to find it. When he did, he knocked on the door a few times, a gun in hand, just in case. He tried to be prepared for anything.  
\----  
A muffled knock was heard in between the tittering of The Mad Hatter.  
Jervis didn’t react to it. His servants, however, did. They all turned their heads in unison; when they turned it back to their master it was like the start of a choreographed dance.  
After a brief pause, Jervis inhaled to get some control of his voice box. He clenched his hand and grasped the arm of the chair. He immediately let go; the swollen bite burned at the effort.  
“D-do-on—eheh, get it.”  
The Walrus made his way down the hall. Before Jervis could get any more words out, he was engulfed in shadows. He was gone.  
Unfortunately, the Joker had struck yet again, even at home. The Mad Hatter’s very power of command had been tarnished. All that was audible was ‘get it.’  
The door creaked open. A large walrus mascot stared at Harvey. The gun was as good as invisible, for nothing made these servants cower.  
\----  
Harvey’s expression didn’t change as he saw the Walrus, expecting nothing less from the Mad Hatter. He looked at the walrus-man, up and down, before speaking.  
“Tetch here?”  
He now put his gun away, not feeling the need to hold it if there was no chance of using it. He gazed at the Walrus as he awaited an answer or an action of some sort.  
\---  
And it was an action he got. The Walrus nodded at his question, although there was quite a delay.  
The Walrus slowly pointed forward. It stepped aside to allow Harvey to walk in.  
It did not let Harvey get ahead, however. For anyone seeking The Mad Hatter could, more than likely, want to kill him.  
It placed a hand on Harvey’s shoulder. With its free hand, it beckoned him to put something in it.  
That something ? That was the gun.  
\----  
He blinked and walked inside, looking around a bit, as he had never been in Wonderland before. It was certainly an interesting place already, and he was hardly in it.  
He soon felt the Walrus’ hand on his shoulder, and he flinched slightly, turning to face it. He looked down at its hand, eventually figuring out what he wanted after a few seconds of confusion.  
He sighed softly and took his gun out, gazing down at it before placing it in the Walrus’ hand  
\----  
The Walrus closed its eyes as it nodded in thanks. This pleased me. It bowed and motioned Harvey to continue without such a close following.  
The Walrus did trail behind, but it was far, far away.  
Jervis’ laughter grew louder the closer Harvey got. Coughs resulted from guffaws, gasps for air followed the chokes. Any breaks from attacks, however short, were filled with panting.  
He didn't even look at Harvey. His servants, of course, all did.  
\----  
Harvey eventually made his way to where Tetch and all his ‘Alice in Wonderland’ based servants were, seeing and hearing the Mad Hatter. The odd noises coming from the man made Harvey frown in confusion.  
He soon ended up in Tetch’s line of view, standing in front of him.  
“Tetch? You alright?”  
His expression was a very slightly concerned one, which was the most emotion (apart from anger) he allowed himself to show to the other rogues. It was rare to get Harvey to genuinely smile, never mind feeling worried for another person.  
\---  
‘Tetch? You alright?’  
He was suddenly in that room again, where the light dawned between two great rogues. A jolt of that rich taste of alcohol soothed his aching jaws. The light scent of cigar passed by his nose, and his nose alone. His laughter finally ceased as he embraced the calming nature of the hallucination.  
His eyes, small like pin points glanced up at his comrade. They seemed to scan between two separate objects.  
That was because there were two men before him. One nasty and melted, an angry figure. The other, well, he was healthy with a good complexion. This man…he looked concerned.  
He addressed that man.  
“Oh, Harvey…my friend…you came to Wonderland after all.”  
\----  
Harvey’s expression only grew more prominent on his, well, half of his face. Two-Face couldn’t care less about Tetch. Harvey quietly silenced his worse half and turned his attention back to the Mad Hatter.  
“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”  
He slowly started to approach him, wanting to know what was up with him, why he was acting like this. He knew something wasn’t right. His eyes narrowed slightly, seemingly analysing him, possibly for any signs of wounds or any external damage that had affected him.  
\----  
A trembling grin slid across Jervis’ face. It hurt, but he couldn’t stop. His mouth throbbed; his lips begged for rest.  
His right hand was deeply red and swollen. A harsh bite wound leaked an ooze from the broken skin.  
Jervis began to laugh. It was a tortuous chortling, almost as though it was not of his own volition. Not a laughter from the heart. This was but one from Hell.  
“Aahahaha, Harvey!” He tried to speak; the words butchered by the lingering effects of this gas. Tears eventually rolled down his pained cheeks. “Ha-ave I go-ne mahahahaa...d?”  
\----  
His worried look turned into more of a sad frown now, seeing the wound and cringing a little. “Jesus.” was all he could say right now.  
Harvey then heard his laugh, the noise echoing in his head as he came to the realisation. The Joker. His gas. His frown was anger-fuelled now, not towards Tetch, but Joker. Joker was the one rogue Harvey would not talk to at all, even in these odd circumstances, and this act made him despise the clown more.  
He tried to soften his gaze as he looked at the Mad Hatter, just about hearing his last question as he watched him descend into laughter. He sighed, and crouched down next to where the bumbling and giggling mess sat.  
“The laughing gas. You were already mad, Tetch.” His tone seemed to be... almost comforting? Another rare occurrence from Harvey.  
\----  
Jervis examined his hand. He tried to move the fingers; he remembered doing that to himself. No, that’s not true. The Joker made him do it.  
He wanted to respond, yet only laughter came out. The comfort that Two-Face's voice had was doing little to stop the spasms anymore.  
Jervis finally moved his head to face his guest. He trembled. His body fought every tinge of the hellish giddies that wanted to break him. “H-haha-Harvey…”  
He tensed and bit his lip; he bit it so hard he broke the skin. Red stained his front teeth; he was going to speak.  
“Will the …he..h…Joker win?” The Mad Hatter reached out to Two-Face. His other, clean gloved hand grasped the shoulder of his fellow rogue.  
He opened his mouth to continue. A bit of crimson water dribbled from his lip. “Is this going to kill me? I…ahaha…I never got her dress back, Harvey…”  
\----  
Harvey let himself sigh at the man he saw before him. It was saddening, he couldn’t deny it, but it also made him immensely angry. He wanted to storm out and find the Joker himself, shoot him right between the eyes and finally end him.  
But he didn’t. He couldn’t.  
He listened to his words, regardless of if they made sense to him or not, and once he had finished speaking, he reached his hand out to the other’s face and used his sleeve to wipe the blood off, keeping it on his lip for a second or two to slow the small blood flow.  
Once he took his sleeve away, he finally answered his questions. ”The Joker will pay for everything he has done to us. To all of us.” He paused for a moment, thinking more thoroughly about how to answer his next question.  
“It’s not gonna kill ya. I promise.”  
\----  
The Mad Hatter’s eyes lowered to his friend’s gentle touch. While Two-Face stopped the flow of blood, there was still no dam for the river of tears.  
Jervis clung to every word that came from Harvey’s mouth. It wasn’t because he was glad to hear such threats to Joker, no; it was because he was waiting for that sweet, sweet reassurance that his story was not yet over. He put as much trust in that man's answer as that of a doctor.  
There was some tittering behind Harvey’s sleeve. The Joker’s poison was not the cause this time. “I-I’ll be okay?”  
The gas may have had a strong neurological component, yet neurological was closely linked with psychological. The promise of recovery was the beginning of just that; his recovery.  
“Oh! Callooh Callay! I live another day!” The Mad Hatter’s arms wrapped around the other rogue’s. There was some laughter, yes...but even if it was encouraged from the gas, it was still a pure and natural sound.  
\----  
Harvey grunted in protest at the other man’s sudden contact, but he didn’t shove him off, instead just letting him hug him, regardless of how much Harvey (and Two-Face) really disliked it. However, he was the smallest bit grateful for the more natural sounding laugh that emitted from Tetch, implying that the mere thought of being better made him better.  
“The Joker did this to you... isn’t it only fair you get revenge on him now?” He mused slyly, now attempting to place a seed in the other’s head. Food for thought, so to speak.  
Harvey only escaped the other’s grip to gaze at him, awaiting his answer. Then he would open him to the idea of joining him and Edward in their plan. There was no doubt that Tetch would be a useful asset. It was just a case of persuading him to join.  
\----  
“Uh-ooh!”  
Jervis stared at Two-Face, taking it all in. A few chuckles here and there escaped him, making him seem more nervous than anything else.  
He leaned back. He patted his hair, forgetting that his weapon had abandoned his head.  
“Oh, well …Hahha…” He ran his fingers through his damp locks. He smelled faintly of blood and sweat. “But Harvey, I must get her dress…I hope he did not destroy her dress!” He placed his hands up against his face. He flinched from the injury smacking his cheek.  
He began to hyperventilate. Thoughts of the Clown from Hell tearing it, burning it, even eating it struck through his mind one after another like bullets.  
\----  
Harvey frowned ever so slightly as Tetch continued to talk, trying to make sense of who’s dress he was talking about, what he was getting so worked up about.  
Eventually it came to him. He stopped frowning and nodded understandingly instead, still keeping his eyes on him.  
“Look, look. Calm down. We’ll find her dress, but you gotta help us in return. Me ‘n Riddler.”  
His expression softened once more along with his tone, although his sternness remained somehow, giving the other the impression that he was keen and willing to help him  
\---  
Jervis shuffled around a bit, trying to get a grip on the situation. His occasional chuckling added to his mania.  
He finally paid some attention and placed an injured hand to his mouth.  
“Riddler? The Riddler? What’s he got to do with anything? Hehe, Is he here, with you? Ahahahah!”  
Jervis leaned over and began to shout. “Riddler! Oh, Edward! Have you come to Wonderland, too? No need to be shy! Ahaha!” He cupped an ear to listen for a response.  
A bit of an episode began to consume him, perhaps trying to get anything that was related to his interactions with Alice was a mistake.  
\----  
“No, Tetch. Riddler ain’t here.”  
Harvey sighed once more, trying to keep control of both himself and the situation at hand. Tetch’s laughing filled the room again, and Harvey clenched his jaw in irritation.  
‘It’s not his fault,’ Harvey insisted to himself. ‘it ain’t Tetch’s fault.’  
He placed both his hands on the other rogue’s shoulders, perhaps trying to calm him down. He gazed at him sternly, as though disciplining a child.  
“Eddie came to me earlier, said he needed some help with takin’ over the city. I came here because I thought you’d be helpful to his plan.”  
\---  
It was understandable that this was getting irritating. Scolding a child was accurate; Jervis was behaving as someone far younger than himself.  
The firm placement of Harvey's hands seemed to do the trick. The Mad Hatter could focus on the point of the matter as long as he was forced to.  
"Ah...You know, Harvey, that Crocodile man told me something similar." He cackled in between pauses. "Eveyone wants to take over this city. He said I could...expand my Wonderland."  
He gave his guest a lidded gaze. His grin was relaxed and only a few chuckles escaped.  
"But, why? I have...what I want here. If I go out there, He'll ruin my life. Hehehe, The Joker will-"  
Suddenly his eyes widened. His pupils shook in terror, in horror; it was almost like he had been struck with fear gas, too.  
\----  
Harvey kept his stern gaze fixed on Tetch as he spoke, listening intently. He had a right to be scared; the Joker was a cackling maniac who’d stop at nothing to get what he wanted. However, Harvey tried to reassure him.  
“But you wouldn’t be on your own in doing that, plus I’m sure there’s something you want from him.”  
His grip tightened on the man’s shoulders, keeping the other focused was his priority. He then saw the sheer fear in his eyes, and he gave him an almost sympathetic smile. He allowed himself to show his emotions only this once, as it seemed to help the situation.  
\----  
The Mad Hatter studied Harvey's face. There was something about it. Sympathy. Someone who could help.  
"Harvey I've been such a fool."  
He cupped his face with his healthy gloved hand.  
"It is not what I want from him, how could I be so selfish? A dress is a dress." He began to chatter on and on, as though he was a protagonist in a play.  
"Sentimental indeed, full of memories of a life I could have had. But Harvey...nothing is as important as the woman who wore it."  
He leaned in "I always hated the Batman, you know..." There was a giggle. "But he...hahaha...was there for the people. He saved them from The Clown's gruesome pranks. People we, too, held close. And now?"  
He stood up from his throne; there was no more time for sitting about. He took a few steps forward, his shoes making an echoing tap with each step.  
He gazed up at the painting he had once hung in his former office.  
"Who is there to protect the woman I loved?"  
\----  
Harvey continued to gaze at the other with a rare soft expression, as he listened to his words, not interrupting. He let him chatter on, figuring it would help and it seemed that Tetch was pretty much back to his usual self.  
Once the other stood up, he followed, standing up straight and stepping in his shadow, following him.  
He hummed quietly at his question, at first not knowing how to answer, but then the words came to him, and he let himself smile at the man.  
“You, Tetch. This is why Ed wants help, because we can work together to take down the Joker and claim Gotham for ourselves!” His tone turned more excited at the idea of Joker falling from his throne as the criminal king of the city.  
\----  
The Mad Hatter smiled to himself. He whispered in a self soothing manner. "Me..."  
He spoke up. "And you, and Edward..." He laughed at the idea, a pleasant laugh.  
He waved a swollen hand at the other man. "Bah, you two can have Gotham!-ehh ow." He cupped it in his other hand as he began to walk.  
He made a beeline to a specific, eerie corner. He flicked a light switch on the wall beside a large, darkened item.  
The shadows instantly moved aside to reveal an awesome guillotine.  
The Mad Hatter hollered at the sight of its slanted blade.  
He slid his good hand down its wooden frame and gazed at Two-Face.  
"I just want his head."  
\----  
Harvey continued to follow him, frowning a bit at Tetch’s rejection to his offer. But he tried not to let it show on his face too much, as it was a sign of weakness, he told himself. Or rather, Two-Face told Harvey.  
His eyes widened, though, at the sight of the guillotine. It certainly wasn’t expected, not in Hatter’s place, anyway. But again, emotions he felt failed to show on his features. He just nodded at his words.  
“Get his head then. We can work together, Tetch, and you can have his head.”  
\----  
Jervis twirled about in a theatrical ecstasy, grabbing a fake flower from his surrounding decorations. When he bumped into the guillotine, he dropped it aside.  
He tried to save himself from that humiliation.  
"O-of course! Harvey, a million thanks!"  
He stepped far away from the massive execution tool only to approach Harvey. He'd be seeing it active soon. It filled him with a gruesome joy.  
"Hahahaha!" He offered his gloved hand.  
"I will help you, my friend! You are invited to the beheading. Front row seat." Some involuntary leftover chuckles made themselves present.  
He stood still, awaiting the formalities that initiated a closed deal.  
\----  
Harvey smiled awkwardly at the other’s small act of humiliation, just passing it off as an accident, thinking nothing of it.  
He then gazed at him as he approached, smiling down at him now that he took the deal.  
He shook his hand, a strong grip as he was almost ecstatic.  
“Great. I’ll tell Eddie we have another accomplice on our team.”  
He then took his hand away, and his tone was quieter, calmer, although it sounded like he was hesitating as he spoke, like it was hard for him to say. “Hope you feel better, Tetch.”  
\----  
Jervis bowed to finish the deal in his fashion. "Give Edward my thanks."  
He approached the throne again and decided to be seated once more. This weakened state made it difficult to keep his normal histrionic antics going for long.  
"Ahahaha, Although I am certain I'll be seeing him in person soon." He rose his damaged hand and snapped his fingers with his healthy one.  
The Queen of Hearts gently supported his wounded limb. The Carpenter disappeared into the depths of the hideout, as if on a mission.  
"I will be quite alright, Harvey. In fact I feel better already. Your doing, I am sure." He grinned in appreciation.  
"I will reward you handsomely, keep that in mind. Money? Liquor?" He gazed down at his fallen hat and then back at Harvey. "Your own personal slave. Name it, at any time."  
\----  
Harvey sighed, slowly, calmly, as his gaze followed Tetch. He attempted to look more stone-faced now, as he had shown enough emotion, perhaps too much, to the other rogue.  
Showing sympathy was weak, Two-Face hissed to him internally, wanting to take control now. But Harvey insisted mentally that they should both calm down.  
His inner monologue was interrupted by Tetch’s words, his offer. Harvey was so distracted at that point that he flinched slightly at the voice that broke the silence.  
He quickly cleared his throat and nodded, now considering what he wanted in return. His mind thought back to his drunken run-in with the Dollmaker. He still owed him $150,000 and one of his goons. He could get the goon easily, but the money? Not so much.  
He blinked and focused back to Tetch, Harvey’s smile small and plain, maybe even polite.  
“I’d like $150,000, please.”  
\-----  
There was an long, long silence. So long in fact, it may have begun to seem as though the offer would be denied.  
"Islands, even little ones, cost a lot of money."  
A low cackle filled the space between the men.  
A white hand twirled as it moved toward another darkened area. Lights seemed to be used sparingly here.  
It pointed.  
"I didn't quite "earn" enough for one of them."  
Billy the Lizard entered the darkness.  
"When we were freed, I took back most of what was mine from the police department. My cards, the guillotine, my axe...all but the dress."  
The Lizard approached, carrying a hefty chest. It was like plastic to him; those in Tetch's control had immense strength.  
"Take what you need from there. Gold, diamonds, cash."  
He shrugged.  
"I do hope I have enough. I couldn't really value it all. Never got the chance. Maybe I did have enough for an island home in the Caribbean."  
\----  
The long silence that filled the air was cold, eerie, and on Harvey’s side, full of dread. He thought the other man was about to reject what he wanted, no, needed.  
But his words cut through the pause like a knife, and it made Harvey sigh in relief. His eyes followed the pointing hand, and he saw the Lizard, with the chest.  
His smile grew as he laid eyes on the valuables, as, like everyone else, he liked to see money. It certainly was a lot of money.  
Harvey took a step towards it, then another, until he was close enough to touch the contents of the chest. He looked up at the Lizard, before looking back down, and beginning to take what he needed. Plus a couple of stacks of money for himself. He wished he brought a goon to load off the valuables, not that he would admit it was heavy or anything.  
He turned towards Tetch again, nodding in appreciation.  
“Thank you. You just saved me a whole lotta trouble.”  
\----  
The Carpenter was heard emerging from the darkness. A white box opened with a click as he wandered closer to his master.  
As Jervis' guest was busy feasting on manmade riches, he was being given some makeshift medical attention.  
Through a link unseen between Tetch and his puppets, The Walrus was instructed to tower over Dent. It was time to go.  
A grey flipper wrapped in front of the rogue, taking over his immediate vision. In the palm was Harvey's gun.  
Jervis chuckled. It was like a laugh track in a comedy show; Harvey's greed the punchline.  
There was no curiosity surrounding such a specific sum of money requested. There was a purpose for it, yet Tetch didn't care. He looked at that special painting again.  
"Everyone wants some magical solution to their problems."  
He let the euphoria of recovery and revenge weaken his grip on reality, to let him take refuge in his persona.  
"But everyone refuses to believe in magic."  
A cryptic quote from the most fantastic story would only suffice for The Mad Hatter.  
Only a sane man would simply say 'you're welcome.'


	5. Riddle Me That

**Two-Face’s Hideout**

The place was, frankly, rather messy.  
Well, to an outsider it was messy, too split in the middle to even be recognisable as one room anymore. To a certain two-faced rogue it was, well, it described him perfectly.  
One half of the hideout was covered in darkness, the only light coming from it being dim red candles. It was as if hell itself was on Earth in that half of the room.  
But the other half, inevitably, was white and bright, and sometimes sunlight would even flood in from a small window on that wall.  
It was like heaven and hell were in a war, just in that room.  
A pair of unmatched hands reached out onto the table, that was placed directly in the middle of the darkness and light, so that the shadows were half-covering it. These hands clutched two equally unmatched guns. One light, one dark.  
A gravelly and deep voice suddenly cut through the silence that echoed and bounced off the walls. A tone of anger was present in said voice, with the undertone of a growl.  
“Where the hell is our map?!”  
A faint grunt then responded, but it wasn’t from the same voice. No, a goon replied and hurriedly shuffled to the source of the voice to place a map of Gotham City on the table in front of him.  
Harvey snarled, which usually meant he was at least attempting a smile. “Good.” Soon he was alone. Well, Harvey and Two-Face were alone, together, the worse half’s remarks echoing in his brain. Eyes averted down to the map, trying to distract the voices and searching for a suitable location to hit.  
\----  
Edward Nigma's voice entered the room, disembodied and filled with static.  
On the side of the room that stood dark and hellish, a contrasting neon green illuminated itself, showing the shape of a humanoid automaton. It's mechanical muscles of metal and wire sprung to life, stepping forward with it's iron skin, the creators voice emitted from a live feed shown on the robots false face, a recycled television screen  
"H̷͓̕e̵̘̍l̸̟l̴̫o̴͖̔?̶̨̎  
̴̥̓D̷̠̕o̷͎͑ ̷̗͗ỵ̶͠ö̴͚́ụ̵̃ ̶̼̉h̷̳͝e̸̖̒ḁ̵̈́ṛ̴̏ ̸̰͠m̸̖̌e̴͖͑ ̶̡̛D̶̖̎ȇ̸̬n̵̩͘t̵̫̍?̵̙̅  
The Riddler spoke, his voice repeating like a broken record in some of his words. The avatar's neon green flickered, clearly it had been made of spare parts that Edward found; a disposable prototype.  
"D̷̺̿a̶̟͂m̷͓̐n̷͜͠ ̶̫͗i̷̹̽t̸̽, is this thing on?!"  
He yelled, flicking a few switches outside the camera view  
Edward's face took up most of the screen, looking at the two before him.  
\-----  
The electronic sounding voice filled the silence in the room, and Harvey couldn’t help but flinch and blink a few times in surprise. He quickly hid his reaction though, and stood up, keeping a strong grip on his guns.  
As soon as he had seen the source of the familiar voice he sighed deeply, partially in relief but in frustration as well. He stepped closer to the robot... thing, and narrowed his eyes upon seeing Edward’s face on the screen. He wasn’t exactly used to having intruders in his hideout so suddenly, but seeing as it was a fellow rogue, it was a slightly better reason for the interruption. Still, Two-Face’s deeper and more animalistic voice sneaked into Harvey’s, showing his irritation.  
“How the hell- ugh, we don’t even wanna hear how you got in. What do ya want, Ed?”  
\----  
Edward knew he was going to ask how he snuck in and hid his creation without anyone seeing him, but that was a riddle he didn't Harvey to know the answer to just yet.  
The screen that acted as the automatons head buzzed softly, the video resolution nothing less than what an old video recorder would produce. Edward leaned back in his chair, presumably at his hideout.  
"I̵ ̵h̷a̵v̴e̷ ̵b̴r̷a̵n̸c̷h̵e̷s̸ ̵y̴e̸t̴ ̴I̴ ̸h̴a̷v̵e̷ ̵n̶o̵ ̷l̷e̸a̷v̶e̴s̷,̷ ̷n̷o̴ ̶t̷r̷u̷n̸k̷ ̷a̸n̸d̸ ̵n̷o̵ ̵f̸r̸u̷i̴t̴.̸ ̴W̷h̶a̶t̷ ̸a̸m̵ ̸I̵?̵"  
Edward jingled to himself  
\----  
At the sound of Edward’s voice, him saying the riddle, Harvey groaned and hung his head down slightly. He shook his head, before just turning away from the automated body with his arms crossed, thinking. Of course, he would have to give an answer to know why he was there in the first place. After a few moments he sighed again, finding the answer he deemed correct.  
“A bank.”  
As he answered, in his usual grizzly voice, he turned back to face him, tilting his head to the side just a bit. It was as if he was patronising him, but it was simply the anger in his tone that gave off that vibe.  
\----  
Edward's face grew a smirk upon hearing the man's answer  
"P̵r̴e̶c̵i̶s̶e̷l̶y̷ ̷~~"  
"I̶ ̴"̵o̵v̸e̴r̴h̸e̶a̸r̶d̷"̷ ̴y̶o̶u̷'̴r̴e̴ ̴l̸o̵o̷k̷i̸n̷g̶ ̶f̴o̴r̸ ̸a̴ ̸h̴e̸i̵s̸t̶ ̵t̸o̷ ̶e̴x̶e̴c̶u̵t̵e̵.̸  
̴P̸e̸r̴h̴a̵p̶s̷ ̵I̶ ̶c̷a̶n̷ ̸b̷e̴ ̷o̴f̴ ̵a̷s̵s̴i̸s̵t̸a̶n̵c̷e̵~̸"  
\----  
Harvey let himself smile in response to getting it right. Who wouldn’t be happy with getting something correct?  
Although he soon went back to his usual scowl and grunted in response to Edward’s proposition. He crossed his arms.  
“Oh yeah? How would you do that exactly?”  
\----  
"̸G̷o̷t̸h̶a̶m̸ ̵N̸a̶t̷i̶o̴n̵a̴l̷ ̷i̸s̴ ̸e̶x̷p̸e̶c̶t̸i̶n̴g̶ ̷a̴ ̷l̵a̷r̴g̴e̸ ̵s̷u̴m̴ ̸o̸f̵ ̴m̶o̸n̴e̴y̴ ̶t̸o̴ ̸b̸e̷ ̵d̸e̶p̵o̸s̵i̶t̷e̴d̴ ̵i̶n̸ ̵a̸ ̸f̸e̷w̷ ̶d̶a̵y̸s̸.̵ ̴Q̶u̵i̷t̵e̷ ̸t̷h̴e̷ ̴h̵a̸u̵l̸ ̴I̷ ̸w̴o̸u̴l̵d̷ ̵s̴a̶y̴.̸"̵  
\-----  
Again, another attempt at a smile, at the sound of large amounts of money. He hummed before nodding, keeping his eyes on the screen that displayed him.  
“You wanna help to take this money, I’m guessin’? You wouldn’t just give me a clue like that for nothin’.”  
\-----  
"W̸h̷y̸,̷ ̵y̸e̸s̸.̴  
̶I̴ ̷c̸a̶n̸ ̵p̵r̷o̸v̷i̶d̸e̸ ̸s̶o̸m̵e̴.̶.̴a̶d̷e̸q̴u̵a̴t̶e̷ ̸a̶s̵s̵i̶s̸t̴a̷n̷c̷e̶ ̵t̸o̶ ̴h̴e̴l̴p̸ ̸y̴o̸u̴ ̵a̴c̸h̵i̴e̸v̸e̷ ̴w̶h̷a̴t̴ ̸y̴o̶u̷ ̷w̷a̵n̵t̸~̴  
̵F̴o̸r̵ ̶t̷h̵e̷ ̸f̵a̵i̸r̵ ̴p̷r̶i̵c̵e̵ ̸o̷f̷.̷.̸.̷l̵e̵t̴'̷s̸ ̵s̶a̷y̶ ̴2̸5̶%̵?̴ ̸"  
\-----  
Harvey sighed and mumbled to himself quietly, perhaps considering the deal. Finally he spoke up, nodding a bit.  
“20, and we have a deal.”  
\-----  
"Y̴o̵u̵ ̸d̴r̶i̶v̴e̸ ̴a̴ ̶h̴a̶r̸d̴ ̶b̵a̵r̴g̶a̷i̸n̷ ̷D̷e̴n̸t̷.̷ ̴S̷o̷ ̴b̷e̵ ̵i̷t̶.̷  
The screen that was televising Edwards face switched to show a picture of the armored truck, then back to Edwards face  
"There are two ways you can do this, smart and quiet, or loud and dumb."  
"Take your pick~ "  
\-----  
Harvey actually stopped to think about how he wanted to go about this. He looked at the truck being shown and nodded, looking away, down at the floor as he thought.  
Soon enough, he scoffed and gazed back at the screen, at Ed, as he took out his coin, obvious as to what he was about to do next.  
Without another word, he flipped the coin, catching it in the opposite hand and opening it to reveal the scratched side. Harvey groaned but Two-Face had to laugh, and the result was a combination of the two, which sounded a bit odd to anyone else.  
“Seems like it’ll be loud ‘n dumb, as you put it.”  
\-----  
Ed nodded to his words, having planned for both outcomes.  
"̶A̸l̴r̸i̵g̷h̶t̷.̶.̶.̴i̷n̵t̷e̶r̷c̸e̸p̶t̴ ̸t̵h̷e̴ ̵t̶r̸u̴c̷k̶ ̵o̷r̴ ̸w̵a̷i̸t̶ ̵f̵o̵r̸ ̷i̸t̷ ̶t̵o̵ ̵e̵n̴t̵e̵r̵ ̴t̶h̷e̶ ̷b̷a̶n̶k̶?̵"̸  
\-----  
At this point Harvey just let Two-Face decide now, as matters involving large sums of money were more suited to the worse half of him. As this was the case, his voice suddenly became deeper and more murderous, although a smirk may have been playing at his lips.  
“Intercept the truck. More time until cops get to the scene.”  
\----  
"G̵o̸o̵d̶.̶ ̸T̴h̷e̴ ̴G̸C̸P̴D̷ ̶i̷s̶n̷'̸t̵ ̸f̷a̷r̶ ̴f̴r̴o̵m̸ ̶G̸o̵t̴h̶a̷m̷ ̸N̶a̶t̴i̶o̴n̸a̸l̸,̷ ̷l̷e̵s̵s̸ ̷t̶i̷m̸e̸ ̵t̴o̷ ̶c̷o̸l̶l̶e̷c̶t̸ ̸i̷t̸ ̵a̴l̵l̷ ̶t̷h̶e̴r̶e̸.̶"  
Edward rubbed his chin, thinking on the matter  
"̷F̵l̴i̴p̶p̸i̶n̸g̵ ̷t̶h̸e̴ ̵t̷r̵u̷c̵k̶ ̵o̷n̴ ̵i̴t̸'̵s̸ ̸s̸i̴d̴e̷ ̶w̷i̴l̷l̷ ̷r̷e̷n̶d̶e̷r̵ ̵i̵t̷ ̴i̵m̷m̷o̵b̶i̴l̷e̸.̵ ̴Y̷o̴u̵r̷ ̶e̷x̶p̴l̷o̷s̴i̵v̵e̷s̵ ̸w̸i̵l̶l̶ ̵d̵o̴ ̶t̷h̵e̶ ̴t̶r̶i̵c̵k̴ ̸i̴f̷ ̷p̷r̶o̶p̴e̶r̸l̸y̷ ̷p̷l̵a̴c̸e̸d̷.̵"̶  
\----  
Another nod came from the man as he tapped his foot on the floor absentmindedly, perhaps to stop himself from smiling too much at the... praise? If you could call it that.  
“Right. We're gonna have a vehicle of our own of some sort to actually get close to the truck?”  
\-----  
"̵W̵h̵y̴,̶ ̷y̴e̶s̸.̷ ̵I̵'̷v̵e̴ ̸t̸a̸k̸e̷n̵ ̴t̷h̸e̸ ̴l̶i̷b̸e̷r̸t̷y̶ ̷o̵f̶ ̷d̵e̵s̶i̸g̴n̶i̶n̸g̶ ̸a̷ ̴s̵u̴i̸t̵a̸b̴l̷e̷ ̵v̶e̵h̴i̶c̷l̸e̴ ̵j̸u̵s̷t̴ ̵f̸o̷r̵ ̴t̷h̴i̸s̴ ̵o̷c̷c̴a̴s̸i̷o̸n̵.̴ ̴I̴ ̴t̵h̶i̸n̷k̷ ̷y̶o̴u̶'̶l̶l̴ ̷l̶i̶k̴e̴ ̴i̸t̵~̸"̸  
\----  
He raised an eyebrow in curiosity at Edward’s comment. Although his voice was seemingly rage-filled and serious, he still sounded a little like an impatient child when he asked the question.  
“Oh? Can I see it?”  
\-----  
Edward's face disappeared to be replaced with a customized muscle car, with a paint job in homage to Dent's signature look  
"̶I̵n̶t̷e̶r̴i̸o̶r̴ ̷a̵r̵m̶o̴r̸ ̷p̷l̸a̵t̴i̸n̴g̴,̴ ̶a̴n̶d̶ ̸h̵i̵d̵d̶e̶n̵ ̷w̷e̸a̶p̷o̴n̵ ̵s̶w̸i̴t̴c̶h̴e̶s̷ ̶a̴l̸o̶n̵g̸ ̷t̴h̵e̶ ̴d̶a̴s̷h̴b̷o̸a̴r̴d̷,̴ ̵a̸m̴o̶n̵g̶ ̴o̵t̶h̵e̷r̴ ̶d̷e̵s̴i̸g̶n̷ ̸c̵h̴o̵i̴c̴e̸s̶ ̶I̷v̴'̶e̸ ̴t̸a̶k̸e̵n̴ ̸a̵p̵o̵n̸ ̶m̵y̸s̶e̶l̴f̶ ̵t̸o̸ ̵m̶a̴k̶e̴~̵"̷  
\----  
Much alike to a child, Harvey’s eyes lit up at the sight of the vehicle, and he let his smile widen at Ed’s words. He wanted to not show that he was this happy and impressed with what he saw, but his response was involuntary at this point.  
“Jesus, Eddie. You didn’t have to outdo yourself.”  
\-----  
"̴N̸o̸n̶s̵e̵n̸s̴e̴.̷ ̴t̸h̶i̷s̶ ̵w̶a̷s̴ ̶c̵h̶i̷l̸d̴'̸s̷ ̵p̶l̴a̵y̷~̸!̸"̵  
Edward allowed himself to grin at his own gloating  
"̸W̵h̵e̸n̵ ̶t̷h̴e̷ ̴t̵i̶m̶e̶ ̶i̵s̷ ̷r̷i̵g̶h̵t̶,̶ ̶y̸o̸u̴ ̷m̵a̴y̸ ̷c̸o̸m̶e̶ ̸c̷o̴l̴l̶e̴c̶t̶ ̸h̵e̴r̸~̶"̶  
He spoke, dangling the keys in the camera view  
"̵R̵i̸d̶d̷l̷e̸ ̷m̶e̶ ̴t̴h̷i̸s̵,̴ ̶I̸ ̵n̶e̸v̶e̵r̴ ̵w̴a̴s̵ ̶b̶u̵t̵ ̴a̷l̵w̵a̸y̴s̷ ̶w̷i̸l̶l̶ ̷b̸e̷.̴ ̵N̴o̸ ̵o̵n̸e̸ ̵e̴v̸e̵r̶ ̵s̸a̵w̶ ̴m̶e̷ ̴b̶u̸t̵ ̵e̴v̶e̴r̵y̴o̶n̷e̸ ̶k̴n̵o̵w̴s̷ ̸I̸ ̸e̸x̶i̸s̶t̴.̴ ̷I̴ ̸g̶i̶v̴e̸ ̵p̷e̸o̷p̶l̶e̴ ̷t̸h̶e̸ ̵m̵o̸t̵i̵v̴a̶t̸i̷o̶n̸ ̴t̵o̵ ̶b̸e̸t̴t̶e̷r̸ ̷t̸h̵e̵m̶s̴e̴l̴v̴e̶s̴ ̶e̴v̶e̶ryday. What am I?"  
\----  
Harvey kept his eyes on the keys that were now shown on the screen, as if it was a carrot on a stick. He merely hummed at Ed’s next riddle, and he frowned which suggested he was thinking hard about the answer.  
Soon he gave up, signifying it with a small shrug.  
“I dunno. What are you?”  
\-----  
"T̶o̶m̷o̷r̶r̵o̸w̵~̵"̵  
"̷I̷'̶l̶l̸ ̴b̶e̶ ̶i̸n̵ ̷t̶o̴u̵c̶h̵~̸"̷  
With that, the screen flicked off and the robot's green coloring faded. It shut down as the mechanical muscles made out of metal and wire went limp, and it just stood there, blankly eyeing Harvey with it's faceless head  
\-----  
Before Harvey could say anything else, the screen had shut off, leaving him in silence and darkness. Still, he smiled to himself as he gazed at the lifeless form in front of him before turning on his heel and sitting back down where he was before. He drummed his fingers on the table, now left with two sets of thoughts running through his head.  
It irritated him that he would have to wait until the next day to get the car, but he figured that all good things come to those who wait.  
\-----

**Somerset Streets**

Two-Face tapped his foot on the hard concrete, slightly irritated. He didn’t like waiting, especially not for other people to show up. Currently, he kept his eyes on the time, growing more frustrated with every minute that passed.  
Edward should be coming along by now. Harvey sighed, and started pacing, looking around for any cops that may have spotted him.  
\----  
The faint sound of a large engine running echoed in the near distance, rolling up to the former District Attorney.  
At the wheel of the rather large, presumably stolen, moving truck was Edward Nigma. He wore a loosely fitting custom shirt, and thick workman gloves. He looked more like a engineer with his attire, even losing his glasses for goggles that lied on his scalp  
"I assume you have the explosives?"  
He spoke, exiting the vehicle. He walked around to the back of the truck, opening it to reveal the custom-upgraded muscle car that Edward promised Dent.  
Edward looked to the other rouge, checking to make sure he wasn't followed  
"The truck is coming along 21st and Ryan Street. I expect your men can get this.."  
He knocked on the moving truck, leaving a slight echo due to it's hollow interior  
"..in place before it is scheduled to arrive?  
\-----  
Harvey watched, looking rather unamused as the truck pulled up and a different looking Edward cane out of it. The only part that excited him was seeing the car in the truck, and he cracked a small grin.  
He, however, quickly returned to his stone-face expression once Edward had started speaking, and he nodded.  
“No problem.”  
He quickly pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and mumbled something, no doubt the information, to his goons. He nodded and put it away, looking back at Ed.  
“They’ll be here in a few to take it there.”  
\----  
"Good."  
He nodded, climbing into the large truck to lower some ramps, so that the vehicle inside could be lowered  
"Anyway, fair warning. This beauty is stacked with high-grade ammunition. Even with the armor-plating I installed, I would...not let this thing get shot at too much."  
Edward panted, producing the keys to the thing and tossing them to the other man  
\----  
Harvey gawked at the car from outside the truck as if it was the best thing in the world, which it was currently, until the money was in his possession. He nodded at his words, but seemed a bit distracted. Nonetheless, he still caught the keys that were thrown to him with one hand.  
“Alright, shouldn’t need to use it for any more than gettin’ away.”  
\----  
"Agreed. Now while..you and your goons take out the convoy.."  
Ed paused for a moment, either for dramatic effect or just to catch his breath between words  
"..I will intercept police radio frequencies so you have some extra time before the word gets out about our..."withdrawl", from Gotham National."  
"Sound good?"  
\----  
Harvey almost immediately nodded, gaze still fixed on the car. He fiddled with the keys in his hand, signifying just how eager he was to get on with it.  
“Sounds good.”  
\----  
"Great~"  
Edward scurried down to the asphalt, wanting to get out of there before they were seen together  
"Rendezvous back at the northern-most construction-site in Old Gotham. I'll be waiting for you there in an hour."  
Edward patted the side of Harvey's good arm, walking away to the location where he set up a temporary base of operations for the heist  
\----  
Harvey nodded slightly in response to him, but before he could say or do anything, Ed was gone and his goons appeared to take the truck away. He silently followed, getting in the passenger seat while one of his men drove the truck to the specified location.  
Once he had got the truck into position, he got Ed on the radio that was in the getaway car, speaking gruffly into it.  
“Am I seriously gonna have to wait until this god damn bank truck comes by...?”  
\----  
I̸t̸ ̵s̸h̸o̷u̵l̵d̶ ̴b̸e̶ ̵c̸o̵m̶i̵n̵g̴ ̸u̵p̸ ̷r̸i̸g̸h̶t̶ ̷a̴b̶o̷u̷t̴.̴.̵.̸n̴o̶w̴"̶  
Edward's voice broke through the radio.  
"E̶x̵p̴e̸c̵t̷ ̵a̷t̴ ̴l̶e̴a̸s̵t̷ ̶t̵w̴o̷ ̶o̵r̸ ̶t̵h̴r̷e̷e̶ ̸s̷q̴u̷a̶d̸ ̷c̴a̷r̴s̵.."  
\----  
Harvey grunted and looked out the window of the car, which was now safely behind the moving truck, able to get away. He did see as Edward foretold, the truck that held the large sum of money approaching. He spoke into the radio once more.  
“Got it.”  
\----  
"A̷l̶r̴i̵g̶h̷t̶.̷ ̴I̷'̶m̶ ̴b̵y̶p̸a̶s̷s̸i̸n̴g̷ ̷t̵h̸e̵i̸r̴ ̵r̴a̴d̵i̸o̸'̸s̵ ̴n̴o̵w̸.̴ ̶Y̴o̷u̶ ̴s̴h̶o̵u̶l̶d̷ ̸h̷a̸v̸e̶ ̵a̶t̸ ̸l̶e̸a̶s̷t̸ ̷a̵ ̶f̶e̸w̷ ̸m̵i̵n̷u̶t̴e̸s̵ ̵b̸e̵f̴o̴r̴e̷ ̷t̶h̴e̵y̴ ̸f̸i̸g̷u̴r̶e̶ ̶o̴u̸t̵ ̶w̵h̵a̷t̷'̶s̸ ̵u̶p̶.̸"  
\----  
“Alright.”  
Harvey soon got out the car upon seeing the truck and its accompanying squad cars stopping, their radios obviously being messed up. Harvey chuckled quietly and went up to the main truck with no one spotting him. With as much stealth as possible, he attached a few bombs onto it, careful to put them in the right places so the vehicle would blow over onto its side once they were detonated.  
Soon Harvey had completed the task and was back in the car, talking to Ed.  
“Done it, no one noticed. Now we just gotta wait for the explosion.”  
\----  
"M̵a̵k̸e̶ ̵i̶t̵ ̶q̴u̵i̷c̷k̵.̶ ̷T̷i̶m̴e̵ ̵i̷s̵n̷'̵t̷ ̷i̵n̸ ̵o̶u̵r̸ ̵f̴a̴v̵o̸r̷.̶"  
Edward said, trying to have this over and done with before any GCPD swarmed the site  
\----  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
Harvey scoffed and looked towards one of his goons who were outside the moving truck. He nodded at him and the goon pushed the button he was holding to set off the bombs. Harvey, being selfish, decided he would take the money and floor it to the rendezvous point. So that’s what he did.  
The truck exploded, no doubt killing the driver. The vehicle itself was blasted onto its side, and the surrounding cars that accompanied it were blown up as well, much to Harvey’s satisfaction. Once it was safe enough, he rushed out with his goons and went to the truck, gathering as much money as was humanely possible.  
Soon he grabbed the money the goons had collected and threw it into the getaway car, getting in and speeding off, leaving the poor men behind. Harvey snickered evilly and pressed harder on the accelerator, away from the scene and hopefully the cops.  
\----  
"A̸l̷r̷i̸g̴h̴t̶.̴ ̵G̴C̸P̷D̸ ̵s̶h̴o̷u̵l̴d̴n̴'̷t̷ ̷c̸a̵t̷c̴h̶ ̴w̵i̴n̴d̵ ̵o̴f̷ ̸t̸h̵i̴s̷ ̴f̵o̶r̵ ̶a̵n̷o̶t̸h̶e̸r̸ ̷f̴e̵w̸ ̶m̵i̸n̵u̴t̶e̷s̸.̷ ̸"  
Edwards voice cracked through the radio static  
"̷W̵e̵ ̶s̵h̷o̸u̸l̶d̸-̶"̸  
̷"̶D̸a̵m̶m̶i̸t̵!̵"̴  
Ed's voice hollered in frustration, with the sound frantic typing being heard through the radio  
"̶G̷C̸P̶D̸ ̷f̷o̶u̵n̷d̶ ̸m̷e̵ ̴s̴o̶o̷n̷e̴r̵ ̷t̷h̴a̵n̵ ̸I̵ ̸a̵n̸t̷i̷c̴i̷p̵a̶t̴e̶d̵.̶ ̴Y̷o̶u̸ ̶h̶a̸v̷e̶ ̸a̷b̶o̵u̵t̴ ̶3̵ ̵m̴i̶n̸u̷t̷e̶s̷ ̶b̸e̴f̷o̵r̸e̵ ̶t̴h̷e̷y̴ ̴s̸e̴n̵d̴ ̶e̶v̴e̷r̵y̸ ̶c̷o̸p̷ ̶t̸h̴e̷y̵ ̴h̴a̶v̸e̶ ̷a̶t̸ ̶y̶o̷u̴"  
\----  
A growl could be heard from the other end of the radio, in the car. Harvey tapped the steering wheel for a bit, silent as he thought. Soon he spoke up, a tone of frustration and franticness. He didn’t even notice he was driving faster as he spoke.  
“Where the hell am I supposed to go then?!”  
\----  
"̵P̶u̷l̵l̶ ̸a̸ ̸r̵i̷g̷h̸t̶ ̷n̷e̷a̴r̵ ̴R̸o̵b̵i̷n̶s̶o̵n̶ ̷P̶a̴r̸k̶ ̵a̵n̵d̸ ̶t̸a̴k̶e̵ ̴t̵h̸e̶ ̷f̵i̶r̶s̶t̷ ̴b̸r̶i̷d̴g̸e̷ ̸y̸o̵u̸ ̸s̶e̴e̴!̶"̷  
Edward said, dumping a drum of Oxyacetylene on the floor of his temporary setup  
"̸J̴u̶s̴t̴ ̵g̸e̸t̶ ̷t̶o̸ ̵t̶h̸e̶ ̷r̴e̷n̶d̶e̴z̶v̷o̷u̶s̵ ̶p̸o̸i̵n̶t̶ ̶h̶o̷w̸e̷v̵e̸r̶ ̴y̴o̶u̵ ̶c̵a̵n̴ ̷f̷r̵o̶m̷ ̸t̵h̴e̵r̸e̴"̶ ̸  
Edward said, taking out a old box of matches and lighting it, he tossed the burning stick onto the floor and proceeded to escape via the fire-escape on the side of the building. He hopped into a white van stashed in the alleyway of the abandoned apartment complex, and exited the scene  
\----  
“Right.”  
Harvey followed his instructions, taking a right and going onto the bridge, driving at what could be around 100 miles an hour. He still had control of the car, somehow, regardless of how hurriedly he was trying to get to the rendezvous point.


	6. Poison Ivy

**Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse**

The morning light streamed in through the glass ceiling of Ivy's greenhouse. The air was filled with soft, warm mist, curling around towering plantlife.  
There were no walkways or paths, simply soft dirt carpeting the floor, where thorny vines and poisonous flowers grew and thrived in the fertile environment.  
Ivy walked through the greenhouse, the plants sensing her arrival and curving away from her, allowing a path through the thick tangle.  
She looked down at them, green lips curling into an affectionate smile as she continued on into the depths of her hideout.  
She sat down in a small, cleared out area, on a tree curved the perfect angle to be a seat.  
She took out a map of Gotham, a list of her fellow villains, and bit her lip, thinking.  
Who would strike next? Where and why? And who would turn their sights on her...?  
\-----  
Jervis had to stop himself from forgetting where he was.  
The lush greenery was captivating; brilliant hues of reds and blues, purples and yellows swirled around him. His Wonderland was but a pathetic knockoff compared to this.  
In a small pool of water, he crouched and gazed at the newly tattooed face staring back at him. The Mad Hatter was being taken to the other side of the looking glass.  
A scratched, large hand took center stage in his immediate view. In the middle of his henchman's massive palm was a mushroom.  
"Ah. Thank you, Tweedledee." A black gloved hand took the fungus.  
The deep, earthy smell of the indoor jungle took him back to the wilds of South America. But there was no time for memories of the real world.  
He rose and examined his garments.  
"Bah."  
His shoes were soiled and pants torn. The flesh beneath had become mildy scraped. He didn't think through; once he gathered enough from his hunt he'd leave before he became another statistic in botanically induced deaths.  
Tetch's eyes trailed up and up until finally, he spotted a familiar woman.  
The queen of the kingdom plantae.  
He grasped the side of a tree and hid behind it, his movements being announced with rustling as he jerked. To further give himself away, he groaned when a thorny branch pulled at his leg like a needy child.  
This was not in his plan. Then again, one would have to be mad not to predict her presence!  
\-----  
Ivy looked down at the man scuttling around her garden. She let out an irritated sigh, and raised her hand. The tree shifted, scuttling on roots to move away, revealing the villain and his henchman.  
"Do you expect to hide from the garden herself? Do you think you can flee from me, within my own fold? You tried to take one of my children from me, did you think I would not notice?"  
She laizily lifted an eyebrow, and the mushroom ripped itself from Hatter's grasp, floating up to Ivy. She gave a sad tsk, placing the fungus on the branch of her tree, to replant later.  
"Now." her voice was chill, a gust of winter's wind.  
"What do you want?"  
\----  
Jervis never felt so exposed in his life.  
His hand that was resting on the side of the tree had lost its support. Not unlike a tree, it was Jervis who had been felled.  
"Oh-oh!"  
Spikes scratched him with every attempt at movement. The mushroom escaped his clutch and its fate, whisked home to its saviour. He reached for it, instantly regretting that.  
"Guh...ah! Bloody-"  
His henchman began to grab at Tetch's shoulders, wanting to free his master from mother nature. As the giant pulled, Jervis shook his head and screamed. His hollering bounced throughout the forest, penetrating every space like the thorns penetrated his flesh.  
Tweedledee stomped out from the spiked mess. The tearing and bleeding on his legs did nothing to slow this hypnotised man. He stopped as if mentally instructed.  
He stood still, cradling The Mad Hatter. Jervis turned to face Ivy. Blood trickled down his wrists, soaked cherry spots forming in his fabric with every breath.  
"Ivy..."  
A toothy grin took over his features.  
"Aren't mushrooms fungi, n-not plants?"  
\----  
Ivy wrinkled an eyebrow, looking bored. "They are my children, all the same."  
A slow smile spread across her face. She rose from her seat, the tree bowing to allow her to step lightly onto the ground.  
Where her bare feet made contact, flowers and grasses and small strands of ivy grew up from the ground, curling around her toes.  
She took a step forward, completely at ease in her own domain.  
"Now I suggest you answer my question. My babies have been so hungry, and you and your lumbering oaf would make excellent fertilizer."  
She grinned, white teeth flashing in the shaded greenhouse.  
\----  
The way flora grew with each step was admittedly marvelous. Jervis knew, however, that such beauty was covering a true murderer.  
"Ivy..."  
He had to choose his words carefully.  
"...Wonderland is known for its lovely fungi. But..." Each word brought back the sting from sliced skin, "A-all that grow in my world are plastic."  
This was mostly true; 'And I want to cultivate them for recreational consumption' would certainly land him in the leafy maw of a carnivorous plant.  
"You do have the most breathtaking greenery."  
He closed his eyes, his grin fading as he let the seering of his wounds pass.  
"And I am terribly sorry to have tried to simply take them."  
He gazed at her with a half lidded smile.  
\----  
Her gaze was flat.  
"Hatter, be honest with me. Are you here to get high?"  
Ivy had to fight a smirk. Seriously, this is why he's here? It made sense, the old fool…  
\-----  
His eyes widened at the woman's guess. They couldn't hide the truth even if he did his best attempt to continue lying.  
He remained speechless for a moment, which did some good for the pain.  
"I imagine you'll end my lonely life anyway."  
The pain returned.  
"...I have s-started to dabble in the power of mushrooms, indeed."  
He frowned; the realization that his life was probably about to end was creeping in.  
\-----  
Ivy gave a dramatic sigh.  
"Well, it depends, Hatter. I could use you to feed my babies, yes. The fungi you so desire would grow on your corpse, and I do enjoy dramatic irony."  
She paused, considering. She didn't like the idea of her babies in his hands, but....sacrifices could be made, if needed...  
Killing him meant she'd put herself in danger if he had allies...keeping him alive meant that she'd have another villain dependent on her for supply...and owing her a lot of favors...  
"Why, Hatter...why do you tremble?" she grinned, starting to circle around him.  
"You only needed to ask~"  
\----  
Her description of his possible demise left his heart sinking. Not only would it have been ironic, a big screw you from the organisms he tried to ingest, but it would also have been pathetic.  
His eyes followed her circular trail. It took a moment before he processed what she had just said.  
He wasn't going to die.  
Ivy, aren't I supposed to be the one who is..."  
He groaned in physical torment, his minion adjusting him in his large arms.  
"Mad?"  
He weakly chuckled as he regretted saying that. Why snap her into thinking sense? Sense that would end up having him killed?  
\----  
Ivy laughed, low, and with a false warmness.  
"My dear Hatter, I understand why you'd come to my garden for your....ah...necessities. I can create what you long for with a snap of my fingers...so long as the price is worth my trouble."  
She leans down, making a mushroom grow in the grass, then plucking it.  
"I'm not particularly interested in money, but....connections, Intel, anything that would make my life as a villain a bit more informed..."  
She walked up to Hatter, twirling the mushroom through her fingers.  
"Give me that, and you'll find yourself in a Wonderland of your own..."  
\-----  
Jervis watched the temptress' mushroom sprout and dance about in her fingers. Tetch wasn't dependent on drugs, yet something about it was alluring. He knew whatever Ivy grew was by no means akin to what modern vegetation had evolved to become. It was something far, far beyond that.  
But if it was not money she wanted, what could he possibly tell her? What bit of gossip or warning could he-  
"There will be a Gotham takeover."  
Perfect.  
He grinned as the words came out.  
"The Riddler...and T-"  
He stopped.  
"The Riddler. He wants to use other rogues to take over Gotham. To steal it from...The Joker."  
He shifted, gritting his teeth. "Th-this may mean a war I'm sure. A war I have no interest in. I just want The Joker dead."  
He looked up at a tree.  
"Your...children may be hurt in a crossfire. It's best to be prepared."  
Satisfied, he reached out at the mushroom slowly and painfully.  
"Will it make this stinging go away?"  
\-----  
The Riddler and who else, Ivy wondered. And a takeover of Gotham...she'd always hated the industrialized concrete and steel of this city. Perhaps she could bargain for a piece of it, where she could let her children grow free of this little house...  
"Excellent, thank you, Hatter. And of course....it will make everything so pleasant. It will take the fear away, and leave you in bliss..."  
She grew five of the mushrooms and handed them over.  
"I'll tell my darlings not to attack you when you come in...if you'd like to trade again."  
\----  
Jervis grinned.  
The thank you was ever so sweet to his ears. It meant relief; it meant his life.  
He clutched the mushrooms, their appearance exotic and texture cool and damp. His black thumbs rubbed their caps. He looked up at Ivy and smiled.  
He took a gentle smell. Their intense medicinal scent promised of good things to come.  
"Oh callooh callay, to make the pain go away!"  
He tucked them gently into his stained pockets.  
"Oh, and I assure you I would not harm them! They...will have only done nothing but help me."  
He nodded at Ivy before his great henchman turned around, preparing to leave.  
\----  
Ivy raised her hand, and the plants slammed into a thick wall of growth, blocking his exit  
"Oh, and Hatter? Do watch your step. I'd hate for any of my darlings to get trampled under your feet."  
She lifted her hand again, and the foliage parted, creating a clear path, dotted with beautiful flowers on the edges, leading to the exit.  
\----  
The great wall of foliage nearly made the man faint. Was this a lie? A joke? Would he end up food after all?  
As she spoke from behind him, her words buzzed in and out of his head as he tried to stay conscious. Tweedledee felt the heart beat rise in his master and tightened his cradling.  
He groaned a little as his henchman did so.  
However, the gates opened to his freedom. He exhaled sharply, his servant relaxing in response.  
“We will...best be careful." From the henchman's side came a blue sleeved arm, it tipped a black top hat weakly in goodbye. "Ta ta for now!"  
On his travels home, he couldn't help but notice how tedious the city scenery was. It was depressing; full of sad memories and painful pasts. The burning throughout his body made the staring and the gawking that much worse.  
An earthy tasting cap rolled into Jervis' mouth by way of his tongue.  
Skyscrapers became cottages in a whimsical village. People turned to cartoonish figures with animal-like features; cars and signs to walking inanimate objects. The honks and shouts of the road was now playful music; his henchman's steps making lovely beats.  
The Mad Hatter lay his head far back, smiling. His fallen hat was caught by Tweedledee.  
Ivy was right.  
Everyone was gone.  
The pain was all gone.  
\----

**Somerset Streets**

Edward didn't drive the van long, having to dispose of it as well. His equipment was in the back of the van, him having placed it all there before he had set the apartment building ablaze. If he had left it, forensics would had found out it was him, but they are more likely to believe it was serial arsonist Garfield Lynns, or better known as "Firefly" to have done it. He covered his tracks well yet again. He drove the van to one of his warehouse hideouts, and stashed his belongings there before properly disposing of the van by having one of his automatons drive it into Morrison Harbor  
Edward looked both ways to make sure he wasn't followed, then he smelled something odd. A mixture of Lavender, Gardenia and the sharp woody smell of… Poison Ivy..  
\----  
"Got yourself in trouble this time, hm Ed?"  
The voice came from somewhere high in the trees, invisible at current. Sounding amused, and very tired.  
"You two woke me up with your idiotic heist."  
\-----  
"What do you want, Pamela?"  
Edward remained still, not looking at wherever she may be: presumably above him, since his nose hinted that the smell being emitted was from her and its strong sent was also seeming to be stronger above him.  
"I didn't burn any of your plants with that fire, so why are you here?"  
\----  
"Excellent question. Well, like I said, you woke me up. Rather annoying. But I'm willing to put that aside...because it seems like you could use my assistance..."  
She paused, a hint of a smug tone in her voice.  
"If not you, then certainly Dent. And really, if I were to step in, your problems would disappear in seconds"  
Ivy layed down on her branch, above and slightly to the left of Nigma.  
"What do you say?"  
\----  
Edward smiled at her words, though the smugness in his face was beyond noticeable.  
"Dear Pamela, what is there to assist? I have executed my plan to perfection, all the while supplying dear Harvey with the means to deal with any "problems" that may show themselves. So do tell me, what could a overgrown toxicodendron radicans like yourself provide any means of "help"~?"  
Ed straightened himself, finally looking to the woman  
\----  
"Your confidence in your partner is...admirable."  
Ivy's voice was flat, showing very little admiration  
"But as you wish. I will not get involved, if you believe in him that much. I did want to have a chat with you...the trees have been talking, you know, and I've been hearing some very interesting things."  
\-----  
"I imagine these trees are Leptospermum?"  
Edward sneered, knowing where this was going  
"Riddle me this, Miss Isley.."  
"I exist when you see me.  
But vanish when you avoid my face.  
I am you and you are me.  
You can see me, but never touch me.  
A thin wall lies between us.  
I can multiply things but they never last forever.  
What am I~?"  
\----  
There's a slight rustle in the trees to his right.  
"I never was one for your games, Nigma..." Ivy sighed delicately. "Loyalty?"  
\-----  
Edward smiled at her answer, given that was an easy one  
"Yes, and sad to say poor old Jervis will have to be taught a thing or two on that matter."  
"Now.."  
"What do you want?"  
Edward spoke, his tone less playful and cocky and now his more stern and cold side  
\----  
"Good luck getting him down from Wonderland long enough to tell him anything."  
She sneered.  
"Besides, I'd like to talk about what he told me."  
She dropped to the ground, soundlessly, flowers and grasses blooming under her bare feet as she stepped towards Nigma  
"My loyalty and assistance to your cause...in return for a corner of the city for me and my children."  
\----  
Edward raised an eyebrow to her request, keeping his smile  
"I could consider your offer...though how do I know you won't try anything with that "harmless" kiss of yours~?"  
Ivy's voice was exhausted  
"Ed, I'm demisexual, I have used my kiss to kill exactly once, and that was my ex. Word got out about it, and people are too embarrassed about getting killed by plants, so they made up rumors about me being a seductress who kills with her kiss. Why would I get close enough to kill someone with a kiss? And put myself in that much harm it's idioitic..."  
She paused  
"But in answer to your real question...it's because the Joker is an asshat and I don't want him to be at the top in this city. I don't really want to either, I just want a sunny place where I don't have to hide anymore."  
\----  
"Uh-huh. Officer Doughty surely could say different, but I digress.."  
Edward cleared his throat  
"I will allow you to tag-along with my plan to conquer this city, and in return for your services, you can have the parks to your own."  
\----  
Her tone was annoyed.  
"Believe what you want, Ed."  
She paused "And deal. Well, you know where to find me, when you want my assistance."  
She turned and started into the woods  
\----  
Edward watched her leave, his brilliant mind already thinking of possible uses for her  
"How queer..."  
"I should probably go see Harvey now...yeah lets do that.."  
Edward told himself, and began to make his way to the rendezvous point at the construction-site  
\----

**Construction Site**

Harvey arrived at the meeting location, and he sighed as he parked the car in a more secluded area, keeping a close eye on his surroundings as he waited for Edward. He even spotted a building that was ablaze nearby, but thought nothing of it. He looked back at the money, checking it was still there. He wondered just how much he had taken, no doubt an extortionate amount, which made him smile to himself.  
\----  
Edward Nigma had snuck into the construction site and was looking around for his accomplice. He spotted them and proceeded to stride his way over to the other rouge and his men.  
"I see you lost GCPD, good work."  
He panted, having walked the whole way from his discussion with Pamela  
\----  
Harvey was now leaning against the car, impatient with having to wait once again. He snarled upon seeing Ed, but simply nodded and pointed to the back seats of the car, where the money was. “Cash is in there. About a million or so.”  
\----  
"Alright."  
Edward had to check behind him, just to make sure there were no tailers  
"Lets say we skedaddle back to your base, count our cuts, and lay low. Sound good?"  
\----  
“Right.”  
He simply nodded, and went round to the driver’s side, getting in keeping an eye out, in case the GCPD caught up to them.  
\----  
Edward fiddled with something in his pocket, before joining in alongside Dent in his new vehicle in the passenger's seat.  
\----  
Soon he started the car, and pressed down hard on the accelerator, not exactly caring how fast they were going. He started mumbling to himself, or rather, Harvey and Two-Face were arguing amongst themselves. They couldn’t help it.

**Two Face’s Hideout**

Soon Harvey has driven back to his hideout with Ed and the money. He parked the car in a secluded area next to the building and got out, grabbing the money and heading inside, not really waiting for Edward.  
\----  
Ed awaited for him to open the door to his hideout. It wasn't as good as his own, but it would do for the time being. He entered behind the other rouge, seeing his creation in the corner still; other than that, nothing has changed much. He looked at the inside thoroughly, having seen it for the first time outside of a laptop screen. The scarred side smelled of charcoal and gasoline; how "delightful".  
"Well, I see you've really made this place your own.."  
He commented after seeing the interior layout of Harvey's current hideout  
\----  
Harvey simply hummed at Ed’s words, signifying he had heard him. He put the money on the table and stood on one side of it, in the shadowy half of the room. His head turned to look at Ed.  
“Take your cut. I hope you’ll stick to the deal and not get cheeky with it.” He commented absentmindedly as he looked around for a goon. Once he had spotted one he went over to him, mumbling a few words. The goon disappeared for a moment before returning with a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses. The man set them down on the table and scurried away. Harvey went back over and poured himself a drink, keeping an eye on Ed as he drank.  
\----  
Edward nodded, taking what he estimated to be 20% of the cut for his aid. It was about 17 bricks of cash, all unmarked bills; roughly $200000. This could get him some additional supplies, or just pay more goons from rival rouges to give him Intel on them.  
"Well, it seems our little partnership is paying off rather well."  
"What are you going to do with your newfound wealth?"  
Edward said, looking at the other man in front of him. He wasn't used to helping others, much less requiring help of his own. He was too brilliant to need help. Harvey was just a tool to get what he needed for his later schemes. In a world of cutthroats, he would emerge victorious.  
\----  
Harvey sat his glass down on the table again, and ran his finger around the rim of it as he thought about Ed’s question. He soon stopped and turned his gaze to the money.  
“Probably gonna need new men. Left some of them at the explosion.” Harvey replied eventually, although still looked as if he was thinking about it. He would keep most of the money, most likely. In case something big happened and he needed to get away.  
\-----  
"Fair, fair."  
Edward commented to his answer  
He really didn't care what the former lawman was going to do with his cut. Knowing how he decides things, he was either going to give it to charity or do what he said he was going to do. Edward scooped up his money, stuffing them in his cargo-pants' numerous pockets.  
\----  
Harvey hummed and sat down, putting his feet up on the table as he grabbed his glass and continued to drink. Currently he was planning his next heist, even straight after one. He enjoyed taking advantage of the bat’s absence, and if he got caught by the police he could easily find a way to escape again.  
\-----  
Edward decided it was best to leave. He had his ways around the city and past squad car routes. He waved to the other rouge, deciding to exit the other man safehouse. A little ways down the street, he decided to recite a riddle to himself for his own amusement  
"The eight of us go forth not back to protect our king from a foe’s attack. What am I?"  
Edward giggled to himself  
"A pawn.~"

**Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse**

Ivy stretched out in a patch of sunlight pouring in through the glass ceiling. She felt her powers grow, the chlorophyll in her skin growing more vivid green as she drank in the energy.  
It had been a few days since her deal with Nigma, and she was expecting Hatter back soon for his next hit. That is, if Riddler hadn't killed him for being so loose-lipped.  
She hoped not, he was a good source of information.  
The grass next to her head shifted, a flower curling around her ankle. A warning, that someone approached.  
\----  
The flora around him was by no means a threat this time around. His tattered clothing left his flesh vulnerable; he was very grateful Ivy's children had not tried to shred him again. Perhaps they felt that from him.  
The Mad Hatter had no henchman this time; no tweedle dum or tweedle dee, no rabbit, queen or walrus. Such common sense was locked to the back of his head, pushed and chained away by thoughts of a very special fungi.  
It was like he was a tree and their mycorrhizae had dug their way into his soul.  
He gazed around the lush forest.  
There was no awe or cheer. There was no wonder in anything on its own anymore.  
There, his eyes trailed until they landed on the most breathtaking person. She was the only thing he had seen in nearly a week that produced excitement without a little help.  
"How far down the rabbit hole I have fallen."  
His words softly travelled throughout the trees and bushes.  
It was an echo of surrender, a cry of defeat.  
\----  
Ivy sat up, slowly, looking over at him. The brokenness in his gaze gave her the slightest tinge of sympathy, but she shoved it to the side.  
"Good afternoon, Hatter. To what do I owe the pleasure?"  
She placed her hand against the ground and a tree sprouted, folding and shifting under her to form a seat. Another tree, smaller, sprouted behind Hatter, and Ivy gestured for him to sit.  
Tetch felt the coolness the shadow casted as it brushed his exposed skin. It was ever so soothing.  
He slowly lowered himself to the earth.  
"You know what I seek, Ivy."  
His eyes closed.  
"You know what I need."  
He gently rubbed a black gloved hand on the root of the tree that supported him. It was almost eerie; like the worshipping of an idol.  
\----  
Ivy frowned softly  
"Of course I do. But what do you have for me? More information? Assurance of aid, perhaps?"  
A small flower bloomed next to her, coiling around her fingers as she observed the man sitting in the dirt.  
\----  
Jervis merely looked down.  
He didn't have anything for her.  
All he had been doing was lying on his bed, living a story book.  
"I...have nothing."  
He scraped the soil, his rubbing getting more and more frustrated as he thought of anything to offer.  
\----  
She looked at him, long and slow  
"You do. Assurance, let u say. Protection from your schemes, perhaps. Or a helping hand when I request it? Does that sound fair?"  
\----  
His blue, glazed eyes looked up at her longingly. He wasn't like the other rogues he had met. Croc, Harvey, Joker. They all wanted the city. Jervis just wanted to be alone; to be in his own Wonderland.  
"I have no schemes. I-"  
There was a long pause.  
"Anyone could give your plants a piece of land for a few mushrooms."  
He removed his hat. He didn't have to keep worrying about the constant need for information he may never get. The schemes he'd never do. The protection he would never be powerful enough to provide.  
He gave her a wicked grin, the black tattoo that underlined his left eye both whimsical and menacing.  
"Or, for an unlimited supply, I can give your plants their own world."  
\-----  
She slowly crossed her legs, listening.  
"And how, exactly, would you manage that, Hatter? Do not make me promises you cannot keep."  
\----  
Tetch rose.  
He staggered a bit, then slipped the card from his hat and flicked it with his other hand.  
"Oh, I will be able to keep this promise. You have my word."  
He bowed. A chuckle escaped his grinning lips.  
"To prove myself, I will take nothing home tonight. I will only return once I have given you everything."  
He walked to her, not minding to keep a safe distance. For The Mad Hatter had a plan so gruesome in his desperate head that his brain was on auto pilot.  
He offered a hand  
"Deal?"  
\----  
Ivy paused.  
"I've made a deal with Riddler already. If I agree to this deal, will he come after me?"  
She asked, green eyes piercing into his like thorns.  
\-----  
The Mad Hatter looked right back into Ivys green eyes.  
"Now, what deal has he offered you?"  
Jervis had to think just why he would hurt Ivy, hurt his supply. Then it dawned on him; The Riddler could most definitely falsely link Jervis' attack with Poison Ivy. He won't make people simply worship plants. No. He'd do something a little more eco friendly.  
"Tch. Never mind The Riddler."  
He backed up until he was able to lean up against the small tree grown just for him.  
"Neither he nor anyone else will be coming after you."  
\----  
She watched him for a long moment, then held out her hand  
"Then it's a deal, my mad friend."  
Ivy had no idea what he was offering. She did know that he was desperate, and she was able to end the pain he was feeling.  
So, perhaps not a bad deal.  
Ivy stretched out her fingers, and the tree Hatter leaned against began a gentle repose.  
Brightly colored mushrooms sprouted from the decaying wood, dozens upon hundreds covering it.  
\----  
Jervis began to chuckle. The growth of the mushrooms were teasing him like beautiful women with delicate features.  
He would be back for those.  
It felt nice to win against another rogue, particularly a smart one like Edward Nigma.  
He'd cling to that, yes. He'd also hold on to the idea of trips to a real Wonderland that no amount of technology had the power to deliver.  
He twirled toward Poison Ivy with a childish dance. He had to; it gave him this added dose of excitement and endorphins that kept him pumped.  
His handshake was firm and quick. His gaze, a little intense.  
He sweetly began to speak.  
"Oh callooh, callay..." A hearty guffaw followed.  
"Ah hahaha!!"  
The Mad Hatter turned away from Poison Ivy and abruptly left. No 'good- bye', no 'thank you'. He simply walked away.  
The grass tickled his exposed skin. It was as if to thank him. It was as if the forest knew his plan before anyone else.  
He looked down at the ground and whispered to himself.  
"And may all humans go away..."  
The back of his mind screamed at him to stop; yet it, too, was muffled by addiction.  
\----  
Ivy watched him go.  
The garden parted to let him go, and she frowned softly.  
Hoping she hadn't made a mistake.


	7. Mad Hatter

**Gotham-TV-Network-Broadcasting Station**

3.  
2.  
1.

Nothing was said. Nothing was shouted.  
The police simply barged in.  
Before any employees had time to process what possible reason the GCPD had, the gunshots ended their lives.  
Commissioner Gordon grabbed the only security guard available to watch the place; all he had to left to protect were corpses.  
The gun was pointed in the guard's mouth. He trembled at the sight of the barrel, at the taste of gun powder smoke on his tongue. The last thing he'd ever consume was a bullet.  
The vacant look in Gordon's eyes was the last thing he'd ever see.  
Maybe that was a good thing.  
No one needed to see what entered last.  
The Mad Hatter, dressed in a deep violet coat and jet black pants.  
The hues had the blue rim of his hat now a mad addition to his attire rather than a fashionable choice.  
He didn't look around. He couldn't.  
A few steps was all he had to do. Like a horse wearing blinds, his black gloved hands shielded his peripheral view.  
Eventually, he found them holding back the vomit in his mouth.  
Just a few more steps.  
The topmost room was home to the broadcasting equipment. Everything he needed was there, except his one special tool.  
A snap of the fingers brought the Commissioner. It wasn't even needed; Jervis' technology was running by brainwaves at this point.  
A simple connection hooked it right up. It was very convenient that the technology hadn't changed since the last time he had come here.  
He fumbled a few times before activating the device. A tap inside his ears reassured him that his protective earbuds had not fallen out.  
Gordon had already inserted the tape. He had also already broken the neck of the man running the broadcasting equipment.  
Jervis backed up. He had to go. Now.  
Gordon hit the button that released Gotham's final orders. He stood still; he had no more tasks to complete.  
\-- :arrow_forward: PLAY--  
00:00  
4/6/XX  
The Mad Hatter sat regally like the Queen during a public broadcast. But this wasn't from Buckingham Palace. This came from Hell.  
"Citizens of Gotham. We have violated the land that cradled us from birth. We do not deserve to warm our feet on the soil of Mother Earth any longer."  
"Each and every one of you must do your part. Clean the planet and let the original inhabitants thrive. Remove yourselves! Sacrifice your bodies and nourish our trees!"  
There was a pause.  
"Poison Ivy! Come see the fall of man and the rise of the flora! Take your place as ruler of the Kingdom Plantae!"  
\-- :stop_button: STOP--  
A blue screen lingered.

**Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse**

Alone in her greenhouse, Ivy felt something shift in her mind.  
Destroy them all.  
Why hadn't she done it sooner? She was surely strong enough to!  
But we don't need to. We can let Riddler take over, live in our corner of the city, we don't want a real fight--  
She had to go.  
Show the city the power of Poison Ivy.  
She walked out the door, thorns growing in her wake.

**Otisburg Streets**

Ivy wandered through the streets in a half-daze.  
‘We need to KILL THEM ALL. ‘  
‘I never wanted all of this. I wanted to live quietly in my garden.’  
‘Destroy the humans, turn their bodies to mud, to slush to feed the garden ‘  
Ivy stretched out a hand, smirking as she made thorny vines burst up from the concrete, strangling civilians, piercing their flesh on the thorns.  
‘I don't want to do this? Why am I doing this? ‘  
‘DESTROY THEM ALL’  
\----  
Harvey scrambled out into the streets.  
It was... chaos. Yet... empty.  
People were simply killing themselves, in whatever way they could. Running in front of traffic, jumping off of bridges.  
It was chaos.  
Harvey had only caught the last part of the broadcast. It wasn’t enough to hypnotise him though, and currently he was wandering the streets, in genuine shock.  
He thought of priorities.  
‘Right, need to get Tetch. Broadcasting tower. That’s where he’ll be.’  
As he walked, his eyes shifted around the scene. Carnage. Usually, he would enjoy that. But not now. It was on a scale larger than he had ever imagined, and it even scared him a bit.  
Harvey decided if he was going to stop Tetch from causing any further damage, he would find an accomplice to help. Maybe, if it was the right person.  
Mismatched eyes searched through the scene frantically, looking for perhaps a fellow rogue who was in the same situation as him.  
\-----  
"Little twerp," The Joker himself muttered behind gritted teeth from where he was lounging in the passenger side of the car. He obviously didn't drive himself anywhere when he had someone just begging to win his favor with every small gesture, so all it took was a snap of the fingers and he had himself a chauffeur. That being said, maybe he should've chosen one of those dimwitted goons of his instead, because he was in a pretty bad mood, and Harley's mere presence was enough to irk him.  
"Snatching my spotlight like that. The audacity! The nerve! The... the..." He trailed off, fumbling to think up the right word for the occasion. Naturally, nothing was coming to him amidst the irritation that fogged his already wild mind, and so he brought his gloved hand down forcefully upon the center console of the car hard enough to make the vehicle quiver. "Don't any of these sad sack excuses for villains have any sense of decency anymore?"  
He was just getting started, really, and his poor sidekick was stuck listening to the head-ache inducing ranting and raving for the duration of the car ride. "I'll show that pint-sized loon what a real showman is. There was no pizzazz! No drama! Not even a single joke! I only wish I stomped that roach out when I got the -- c'mon, Harley, c'mon! I'm not paying you to take a nice Sunday drive." He abruptly spat, even if... well, he wasn't paying her at all. But he was naturally impatient, naturally antsy to remind Gotham and that embarrassment of a bad guy who was running the show here. She was unlucky enough to be the one getting him where he needed to go.  
Shifting his gaze to the center console, he yanked it open to begin rummaging through its contents, tossing the ones that didn't appeal to him aimlessly and haphazardly over his shoulder; Gag weapons, mainly. Playing cards, confetti grenades, squirt guns... "No, no, no, no, no! Where's my lucky pistol?" He stuck his head into the console for a moment, which left him nearly oblivious to the absolute havoc unfolding in the near distance. He was on the warpath, to say the very least.  
\----  
“The tenacity, puddin’?” She chimes in as she steers through a pile of dead bodies, the swerves to avoid a jumper.  
Be it his mood or the chaos that’s happening around them, Harley Quinn is unnaturally quiet as she drives through the gore-ridden streets. To be fair, she’s only half listening to Joker as he rants and raves, presses on the pedal harder as he yells at her to go quicker. Her mind is on Ivy, her friend. This isn’t like her, not one bit and she doesn’t understand why— or what is happening, why she would be doing this.  
Despite this, she’s dressed nice enough, always dressed to hang off the arm of Joker. Blue and pink adorn her, diamonds of black and red.  
The car they’re in all but drives straight into a man who’s jumped in front of their car, and she’s snapped out of her little daze as it happens, blood spraying on the windshield.  
“Where do you think he’ll be?” She questions, as she calmly turns on the windshield wiper, adjusts her rearview mirror. “What are you going to do when you find him?”  
She reaches down beside the driver's seat, feels the grip of his pistol and passes it to him without looking, her nails are perfectly painted, baby pinks and blue.  
From the corner of her eye, she spots  
Harvey, but doesn’t say anything as she swerves again to avoid the crazy onslaught of violent traffic and suicidal people.  
\-----  
Edward Nigma was amidst his devices, scrambling to and fro between the countless monitors that lie before his being. He wasn't dressed in his usual suit and tie, but the same loose-fitting button-down shirt and cargo-pants that he had wore when him and former Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent had "relieved" a cargo-truck of unmarked bills of it's precious cargo  
Behind him stood several automatons of which the brilliant man had created himself, awaiting their creators demands. Edward's face was pooling with sweat, from both the current situation that has befallen Gotham City and Nigma working on a weapon that he has been building for quite some time now. He was aware that Jervis Tetch, or as he calls himself "The Mad Hatter" had been the source of this chaos, but Edward was also keenly aware that Pamela Isley was wreaking havoc and mayhem on the streets of Gotham, due to the massive quakes of shifting earth thanks to her overgrown plantae.  
"Come on Ed, think, think, think!"  
Ed grumbled to himself; his mind racing to find a solution to this madness. He didn't overly care about the citizens of Gotham, but we weren't going to watch them be mangled to death. No Gothamites to listen to his brilliant puzzles! No one to applaud his genius! He couldn't watch his fellow man, no matter how inferior they are to him, be killed! This had to be dealt with: and GCPD certainly isn't doing a thing!  
He'd...He would have to do this himself..  
Edward was the smartest man in Gotham! He didn't resort to violence...  
..He sneered at the thought, but it was the only logical solution..  
"I'm by nature solitary, scarred by spear and wounded by sword, weary of battle. I frequently see the face of war, and fight hateful enemies; yet I hold no hope of help being brought to me in the battle, before I'm eventually done to death. In the stronghold of the city sharp-edged swords, skilfully forged in the flame by smiths, bite deeply into me. I can await a more fearsome encounter; it is not for me to discover in the city any of those doctors who heal grievous wounds with roots and herbs. The scars from sword wounds gape wider and wider; death blows are dealt to me by day and by night.."  
"What am I..?"  
Edward sighed to himself, looking back to his creations  
"A shield..."  
"Ready the weapon."  
The robots followed his command instantly, running to do their creators bidding.  
No more question marks. It was time to put a period...for the sake of Gotham..  
\-----  
‘Now here, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast.’ The Red Queen whispered into Jevis’s ear. A hallucination so real, so true. It felt as though no matter how much he ran, he could not get away.  
There was no point anymore. He’d never escape Hell.  
Jervis Tetch prayed for his ears to begin ringing, to tune out the screams of human sacrifice. He prayed; but the silence would not come.  
His body let him stop running, yet forced him to keep walking. He was a zombie, akin to the victims in a nuclear blast. He moved with a slow crawl, a distant stare.  
He had to go. He just had to go home.  
Go home.  
Not to Wonderland.  
To 1762 Willsdale street.  
His old home.  
He looked at it. What he once had. Its red bricks and old wooden banners were now renovated; whoever was renting the place had such beautiful taste.  
He walked closer and closer, lowering his hat in a heartbroken awe.  
As though it had been waiting, a shadow began to form above him. It got larger and large until-  
Crack.  
A young man and woman lay before The Mad Hatter. They wrapped around each other forming a mangled crimson pile of oozing organs. It seemed to move, a gurgling moan escaping the jawless faces.  
Jervis’ hand searches for anything tangible to get him to keep himself steady. A pole, a wall, anything.  
He groaned before vomiting, the contents of his twisting stomach swirling into the pools of the victims’ fresh blood.  
He could feel himself losing consciousness. He wanted it. Finally, he could escape.  
But, what was that music?  
Gymnopédie No.1. He knew that piece. His brain must have been playing it for him, to lull him into a sorrowful sleep. Yet, its source was from the house.  
In the front window, he peeked.  
A young girl played her piano. She was no more than 10. She must not have been watching television.  
He looked over at the bodies that died by his hand.  
Those were her parents.  
The Mad Hatter moved to the front and fell to his knees, sliding his black hand down the door he once opened twice a day.  
Small vines slithered at his feet, gently wrapping around his trembling legs as if to caress him.  
He lay at the steps and he wept.  
\-----  
Ivy strode through the city, moving her arms like she was directing a symphony of destruction.  
Get out. We have to get out of here, we have to go home--  
A couple was ripped apart by her vines, and she smiled, wanting to cry.  
She saw someone running through the city. Two-Face.  
‘To RIP to SHRED to turn to FEED FOR THE PLANTS. ‘  
Vines thrashed towards Harvey, a feeble attack held back by her own fear.  
‘Damnit!’  
\----  
The car that sped past, the Joker’s. It caught Harvey’s attention, especially the speed it was going, and where it was going. It was heading towards the same place he wanted to go.  
‘Damn clown!’  
Soon he groaned, and simply turned his head away, his mind frazzled, his sight foggy. The situation unfolding around him seemed to be perhaps a bit too much. It was all becoming a blur.  
‘No.’  
Two-Face had the strength to keep them both in the present, to make them walk, even run to the desired location.  
Then... they were halted. Harvey heard a snap, almost like thunder, it was that loud. The flash of green he noticed was right next to him. He jumped away in shock and fear, letting out a yelp. If he was just a few centimetres to the side when the vine thrashed forward, that would have been it for him.  
He turned, and saw her. Poison Ivy. He frowned; why would she be attacking him like that, in the midst of all this?  
The answer quickly and aggressively came to him in the form of Two-Face’s voice in his head.  
‘She watched the damn broadcast, you idiot! She’s hypnotised!’  
Harvey stepped forward, towards Ivy. The better half of the two decided to attempt bringing her back to reality, and out of her daze.  
“Pam... Pam! Where is Tetch?!”  
\-----  
Tenacity. That was it, but Joker’s attention was elsewhere now, and he was far from in the mood to shower her in praise.  
Instead, the madman continued to rummage through the console to no avail, a string of muddled mutters slipping past his lips. A gun almost seemed too easy for a situation like this, so maybe failing to find it was a blessing in disguise. He tended to think more sinister when he was peeved, anyways. The only one that would fare horribly for was Tetch.  
When there was an abrupt THUMP and a SPLAT, his head popped up, green tufts of hair dangling limply over his forehead. Grimacing upon seeing the aftermath of a man who so stupidly leapt right in front of their car (like it truly disgusted him) with a little mutter of "yeesh", he reached out an arm to swipe his elbow a few times against the inside of the windshield, the fabric of his purple tailcoat rubbing against the glass and emitting a squeak, like that would do anything to clean up the mess. "What are the chances? A paint job on the house!" That was enough to lift his spirits, and he released a little howl of laughter, draping an arm across his torso and slumping back into his seat.  
Reaching out to snatch the pistol that Harley offered him, he paused in response to her question, tapping the barrel of the gun against his chin a few times. "How should I know? You're the shrink, you tell me where a goon like our pal Jerv would cower away. Think, think." He insisted. "Probably quivering in his itty bitty boots. Rumor has it that all it takes is one teensy mess to make the old bat lose his tea and crumpets." He added with a snicker.  
They were speeding down the streets so quickly that it was impossible to focus on one person or thing surrounding them, but those vines? Why, they were rather hard to miss. "Hold it. Hold it. You didn't tell me your gal pal was throwing a hissy fit." He held up a hand to silently instruct Harley to step on the brakes. He hadn't caught the broadcast, too preoccupied in his own world of plans and chaos and comedy. An egomaniac like him simply couldn't pass up the chance to reunite with the same villains who snubbed him hard enough to tug at the old heartstrings -- if he was a man of sentimentality, anyways.  
\----  
Harley felt his fingers against hers for a second as he grabs the pistol, feels the cool chill in her stomach. His laughter makes her smile and she has half a mind to plunge into more people, just to hear more of it.  
You're in deep, Harleen. Too deep.  
Ah, a familiar voice. And her familiar method of pushing it back, squashing it down and swallowing the key. Like the snake that eats its own tail, how quaint, how poetic.  
"Jerv...." She lists the few things he is, a criminally insane, mad scientist who invents and uses technological mind-controlling devices to influence and manipulate the minds of his victims...obsessive-compulsive, highly delusional, childish...Childish...  
"Probably to a place of comfort, somewhere that his mind considers to be safe, amongst all this chaos..." She's even seem to have lost a bit of her accent as she speaks like this, logical and cool.  
Icy blue eyes widen as she figures out the last piece of the little puzzle, but before she can share it with her lover, he holds up his hand. She slams on the brakes, feel the pull of her seatbelt.  
"...Ivy?" She questions, remembering this as she looks around, she can feel slight panic, not out of what Ivy could do, but what Joker would do to her. "I...She...wouldn't do something like this, it ain't like her. Her brows narrow as she puts that together as well, mind-control ; Jervis. "Hatter;s got her under some spell, there was some radio broadcast, his radio signals fuckin' things up."  
That scrawny bastard.  
\----  
Edward Nigma stood beside his automaton servants, overlooking the chaos that is befalling Gotham City. Edward had time to reflect why he was sticking his brilliant neck out for the citizens of Gotham. Time and time again they ridiculed him for his methods; his choices. They all saw him as "the thief who wants to be caught. Ha! Such ignorant fools they are. It was never about the money, it was about the game! The fun in it all! They should be remarking his intellectual genius!  
Alas..  
Such simple matters are too difficult for the people of Gotham. Even now he sees them as the idiots they are. Joker, Bane, Penguin, all of them! He is better than them all! He has standards! He does not wish to do away with the citizens of this city; toss them out like clutter. He wishes to be their superior!  
". . ."  
Edward looked at the chaos that was all around him. People dying on the street, left and right. It was disheartening to the rouge. Sure, he had hostages in the past with fatal traps, but Batman was always there to thwart his plans. No-body ever really got hurt with Edward; not really. When did everything go so wrong? Was he away when they changed the rules?  
He shrugged off the thought, and looked to his robots. He knew what he had to do. He already tracked down the location of Pamela Isley; it was time to put his plan in motion.  
Edwards' voice entered the air, echoing through the countless speakers that littered every screen in the area. The collected mass was loud enough so that anyone could hear him; and he did what he did best. Start the game.  
"̸P̶a̸m̷e̷l̶a̴?̶ ̸C̴a̷n̶ ̶y̵o̸u̵ ̶h̷e̴a̶r̸ ̶m̶e̷?̸  
̶I̷ ̸k̸n̴o̸w̷ ̶y̵o̸u̸ ̶c̶a̸n̷.̵.̵"̶  
Edward kept a straight face, and continued  
"̷R̶i̴d̴d̴l̸e̷ ̷m̸e̸ ̵t̶h̶i̵s̵.̶.̶"̴  
̶"̵I̶ ̴a̵m̵ ̸f̴l̵o̷r̷a̵,̸ ̴n̴o̷t̷ ̵f̷a̷u̴n̷a̷,̶"̴  
̴"̸I̷ ̵a̵m̷ ̵s̴h̴r̸u̴b̵b̸e̸r̸y̵,̸ ̷n̵o̸t̵ ̶g̸r̴a̷s̵s̴,̵"̶  
Ed cleared his throat, pressing a switch as he spoke the answer to the riddle  
"I̷.̸.̷"  
"̷A̸m̵-̸B̵u̶s̶h̴"  
With those final words, the rooftops surrounding the area lit with Edwards signature neon green, as his automaton creations littered the area like a plague. It was an ambush. They proceeded to swarm the area, all climbing on the overgrown vines that Pamela rests herself apon. Edward was nowhere to be seen, not that many would take notice due to the swarm of robots entering the fray. Pawns to protect the king. The game was set, and Edward was determined to rise victorious.  
\----  
Ivy's eyes widened, Nigma could see they were pure white, but as the robots swarmed onto her vines, they flickered back to their normal green irises.  
The shock flooded through her system, momentarily shoving back the voice snarling and snapping at her mind. For a moment, there was quiet.  
She looked to see Harvey, the Riddler's bots, the car that held her best friend and her deadbeat boyfriend.  
"CONSUME" the voice snarled.  
Ivy stared out at her fellow rogues.  
"Take me the fuck down." Ivy grinned.  
Her eyes flashed back to pure white, and vines lashed out, slamming into Riddler's bots.  
Roots grew thick and gnarled from the concrete, turning the ground uneven and impossible to drive on.  
Trees started to sprout, thick wood choking and crushing Riddler's bots.  
\----  
Harvey could see the change in Ivy’s eyes, the white to green and back again. It was... unnerving, to say the least.  
He took a moment to survey the situation. Ed’s bots infesting the greenery, the car he had seen before, with the Joker and Harley in it, not to mention the citizens trying every which way to commit suicide. Two-Face merely added to the commotion, forcing Harvey to act, to fight. It was all a bit much. Was there such a thing as too much chaos?  
Harvey didn’t want to fight, though. He just wanted to find Tetch.  
He took a step back, away from everyone. But... if he just left, he would be seen as weak, unable to fight. He was quite the opposite.  
Again, another scolding from Two-Face, telling Harvey to ‘Get the fuck on with it, or I will!’  
Currently, Harvey was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Fight or flight. His two personalities fighting amongst themselves wasn’t helping much.  
It was as if there should be another. Another to separate the two... to rule them... rule them all…  
\----  
A sharp squeak pulled the blubbering man from his tears. Jervis whipped his head toward the window; the girl ceased her song.  
No, he would never let her see what he had done.  
The vines that locked his legs tightened their grip.  
“Oh, get off me you bitch!!”  
He tore them from his leg, grunting with each successful tear.  
“Ahrgh!”  
With a heavy breath he lifted his frame. His shadow covered the door. Slowly, he twisted at the knob. It was locked.  
The movement inside the house stopped immediately. His eyes looked up. The water running down from them showed no sign of ending their flow.  
Jervis never used his physical size for anything before. Brains and technology, words and logic were his tools. His mass rammed against the door once, twice, thrice. Each bang had the grunt of a strange man follow. The girl let out a yell.  
The door flung open.  
The girl screamed even louder at the sorrowful stranger towering over her. Jervis began to reach out.  
“Oh-P-Please-“  
Her young mind reached the only conclusion it could, given his appearance. The violet coat and green collar, the crazed look in his eyes he had no clue was so evident.  
“M-mommy! Dad-! It’s the Joker!”  
Jervis’ eyes widened, his pupils shook. He stepped back.  
“W-What…”  
His concerned look warped to that of anger and torment.  
“No!”  
He grabbed at the closest blunt object he could find. His black fingers wrapped around a small lamp. He tore it from its socket, sparks flashed before darkness filled the room. He swung.  
"Oh-!!" The Mad Hatter dropped the lamp. It shattered.  
He could not believe what he’d done. Not that way. Yet the child on the floor at his feet told no lies. He struck an innocent little girl.  
He touched her neck. She was still alive.  
His arms cradled her body, easily lifting her. Her head flopped back. The Mad Hatter let out a weak sigh and supported her neck.  
“Oh…no...”  
And so, he spirited her away. It seemed like everyone who lived in that quaint little house wound up in Wonderland.


	8. We’re All Mad Here

**Otisburg Streets**

Ivy gritted her teeth.  
‘GET OUT’ Her inner voice screamed  
‘KILL THEM ALL’ The other voice roared back.  
‘WE ARE IN DANGER’  
Finally, they agreed on something.  
Riddler's bots were jolting, shifting, pulling off her vines and scrambling up to attack her. To hurt her, maybe kill her, she wouldn't put it past Nigma.  
‘PROTECT ‘  
Ivy curled up, wood and vine and thorn and leaf coiling around her in a protective shell. Soon, she was hardly visible among the shifting foliage.  
The vines snapped and thrashed at anyone who got too close.  
\----  
Harvey and Two-Face finally decided they would flee from the scene, to find Tetch, and stop... Well, whatever was happening right now.  
He shook his head and turned, to face away from the other rogues, to leave them behind to fight amongst themselves. Yet, he didn’t move.  
Now he was thinking. He could feel the third snaking its way into his mindset, his thoughts were becoming more corrupt, more confusing. Harvey tried desperately to rid this unknown way of thinking from his already painted mind. He didn’t want to have to deal with any more voices, any more new voices, telling him to do something completely different.  
The shaking of his head became more emphasised, and he covered his ears to try and silence his mind. Of course, it didn’t work, and Harvey was now staying where he stood, desperately wanting these new feelings to go away.  
\----  
Edwards automaton servants were flung around to and fro by Ivy's vine whiplash. They smacked against buildings and cars with heavy thuds, some even being completely destroyed by the impact force. They clung onto any plant-life they could, trying to hold the raging vines with their iron muscles; but to no avail. With their combined might, they could not hold the plantae down.  
Edward's voice echoed through the sky, having decided to join the battle himself  
"Pamela!"  
He roared, standing there in the weapon he had been building for weeks since the great breakout at Arkham. It stood tall, with Ed being placed in the center of the battle suit; it looked to be made out of construction-vehicle parts, the yellow metal contrasting with the green paint that covered part of the thing. It wasn't near the scale that Ivy's plants were, but Ed hoped it should do the job.  
\----  
At the shout of her name, Ivy shifted her plants to look through the shield of growth.  
She thrust out her hand, sending thorny vines to tangle into the mech's legs. A few trees shifted, wrapping their wooden branches and roots around the legs, all trying to weigh it down.  
‘CONSUME’  
‘Damn, Ed. You actually stand a chance.’  
\----  
Edward pushed out his giant mechanical right arm, as the four claws began turning faster, and faster; then in a giant explosion of mad-engineering, a large devastating beam of electricity burst out of the palm of the "hand". It cackled and burned everything in its wake, even catching a few hypnotized civilians. Edward saw that vines creeping around this robot-suit's hydraulic-fueled ankles, and with a flick of a switch on the main dashboard, an electric shield bubbled itself around him. A downside of this is that he cannot use the canon again without turning the shield off, though he has other means of inflicting damage..  
\----  
Half of Ivy's protective shell was caught in the beam, and it wilted and burned into nothing.  
‘FOOL. HE WILL ROT AND TURN TO FERTILIZER FOR THE EARTH!!!!’  
‘What the hell, Nigma?! He's trying to kill me, isn't he?’  
Ivy wrapped the rest of her shield around herself, tightening her defenses. That glowing shield protected him from all sides...but what around from below?  
She shoved her hand up, making a giant oak sprout from under the mech's feet, trying to impale it, or at the very least, knock it down.  
\----  
Edward felt a huge disturbance in the floor below him, before being shot upward in the branches of a mighty oak.  
'Dammit..' He thought to himself.  
'I need to get in closer..'  
He flicked another switch, turning his shield into a blast of energy; releasing a EMP-like blast that surely eviscerated anything near him. Now with the shield gone for now, Ed decided to release another beam of electricity at the towering-vines in front of him; aiming for the base to try and knock her off of her pedestal. He flicked another switch on the main-dashboard of his suit, and a few makeshift gas-grenades shot out to the flora before him. Hopefully they would be a long-enough distraction for him to do what he needed to do  
\----  
"Damn it!"  
The vines near Nigma withered and fell, from the gas, leaving his mech completely unencumbered.  
Ivy felt the base start to crumble. This wouldn't be good enough for a shield anymore...but that didn't mean it had served all it's uses.  
She threw the shell of wood and growth at him, hoping to buy her some time.  
She weaved together a mass of thorny vines, whipping and snapping behind her, ready to strike out at anyone or anything.  
Building crumbled, civilians died around her, and in their panic, Ivy felt herself struggle to the surface of her mind, enough to choke out;  
"HURRY THE HELL UP AND FINISH ME!"  
\----  
An opening? The vines had overcome the car- Mister J wasn't going to be happy about it, not one bit, but Harley smashes a fist through the drivers window, unlocks the door and shimmies her way out, beginning to run down the street to Ivy. She's fast enough-- and nimble enough to dodge the vines and anything else that comes towards her, her bat is strapped across her back, but it'd do little to no damage against the thick vines.  
Instead, she pulls out her pistols and starts blasting at the vines, makes sure to get the roots.  
"Ivy!" she calls out, her voice rings against the gore-ridden street. "Ivy!" As she approaches closer, she slides a pistol back, pulls out a shiny pink can. Her brows are narrowed as she tosses it into the air, her bat emits a high whistle as she swings and sends the can of laughing gas straight up towards the shell.  
\----  
Edward was about to leap into the final step of his plan before he heard an annoyingly familiar voice enter the fray. He didn't even need to look, because that tone and accent was that of only one person; The Joker's personal punching bag, Harleen Quinzel. He heard a thunk, and turned his head to see she had batted something towards the dazed Pamela.  
'What the hell is she doing here?'  
Ed thought to himself, wondering if Quinn was trying to either distract him or is generally trying to stop Ivy  
\-----  
Ivy saw the gas hurtle towards her, and cursed, diving away from it and covering her mouth.  
She managed to dodge away, get out of range of the noxious gas, but this just put her closer to Riddler and his giant mech.  
She was without her protective shell, only surrounded by some vines.  
‘Damn it, Harley, why was she here?’  
"Get out of here!" She called to her friend, getting ready to attack Riddler.  
\-----  
“No!” Harley yells back, blasts at the last of the others shell. “Stop this!” The blonde yells back as she runs towards the other, isn’t at the best advantage when she’s on the ground. Her boots make a thudding sound as she continues to sprint, hops agile— graceful on the mass of vines, finds a grip holder and begins to climb.  
\----  
Edward sneered at Pamela, his frustration growing.  
"Your tenacity is your downfall~!"  
He shot another beam of electricity, but with less power and only at the ground near her.  
"Your feeble attempts to match my genius are cumbersome at best. It is in your best interest to surrender~"  
Ed spat out, his arrogance showing slightly in his words. Even now his automaton creations were finally getting back into the fight, now beginning to surround Ivy. They didn't attack, but we're ready to leap onto her given their creators command.  
\---  
Did he ever stop talking?  
Pamela glared up at him, her eyes pure white with the hypnosis.  
Machines will crumble, will fall, will be eaten by the ground  
Ivy didn't look at Harley, climbing up to meet her. She was aware of her, but if she turned her attention to the clown, Ivy might not be able to stop herself from hurting her.  
Wrestling back a margin of control, Ivy shifted her vines away from her body, leaving her totally exposed, as she raised them in the air to bring them down on Riddler.  
A very stupid, very risky move.  
Hopefully one that wouldn't pay off.  
She started at Nigma, never breaking eye contact.  
Make it count, Ed.  
\-----  
It’s clear Edward isn’t going to spare her, it makes her gut burn.  
Harley knew what she has to do, so she does it, grits her teeth and smacks her bat straight into Ivy’s head, hard enough to possibly cause a mild concussion, yes, but not enough to kill.  
And just because she’s stupidly rash like that, she follows Ivy on the fall down.  
\-----  
Edward watched as the two tumbled down to the ground. It was amusing, to say the least.  
\-----  
Ivy hit the ground, going unconscious for a couple of minutes.  
She slowly crawled her way back into consciousness, squinting and blinking slowly.  
"What the hell...what happened?"  
Her voice was rough and tired, but her eyes were back to their normal green.  
She glared up at Nigma's mech. "I gave you so many openings, and you didn't take any of them. Way to go, Ed."  
She turned to Harley, smiling. "Thanks, Quinn. You saved my ass up there."  
\----  
Harley kneels down beside the other, has a horrid gash on her knee but doesn't feel the pain yet.  
“So you ain’t crazy no more?” She looks at her bat, then herself. “Wanna try that one on me, V?”  
\-----  
Edward looked to the two, and commented on what Pamela said to him  
"Ha-ha-ha, Pamela if I wanted you dead I would've done so! Besides, there's our little agreement."  
He spoke in his usual smug tone  
He exited his mecha-piloted battle suit, touching the cracked and bloodstained asphalt.  
"Reunions aside, you may want to leave before what remaining GCPD left come."  
He waved them off, knowing that the police would keep his weapon safely tucked away in a storage facility somewhere. He would reclaim it later.  
\-----  
Ivy got to her feet, hissing in pain, but stayed upright.  
"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Ed." she said dryly.  
"And it doesn't work like that, Harley." she said with a small laugh.  
"I'm going to kick Hatter's ass." she said, grimacing. "Why the hell did he do any of this? I don't think he killed anyone before this."  
\----  
Harley gets up as well, she's a little shorter than both of them, despite her heels.  
"....I suppose it has to do with a mental breakdown. That much is obvious. He isn't here to see the shit he's done, so he ain't doing it to gloat, probably..." Years of psychology, coming through.  
"Mister J's real mad too..."  
\-----  
Ivy immediately forgot about her own pain. She paused, thinking a moment.  
"Hey, do you mind spending the night with me in the greenhouse? I'd be nice to have some company."  
There was no way she was going to let Harley suffer Joker's wrath tonight. Not when it was partially Pamela's fault that this had even happened.  
\----  
"Tonight...?" Harley pauses, looks at the car, no idea where the man is.  
"...Sure, it'll be a party. We can have a nice bath and some tea and stuff!" She smiles, wide, her lipstick red and smudged. "Should I get us a cab?"  
\-----  
"Sounds great, Quinn. As far as a cab  
..."  
Ivy looked down at herself.  
"Harley, I just destroyed several blocks. And a lot of people are dead."  
She focused, and the vines around her feet perked up. They wound around herself and Harley, and started shambling quickly down the road, leading them back to Ivy's greenhouse.  
\----  
“People die all the time.” HarleysStated. It’s a curt acknowledgement, but it’s her form of comfort. “If you didn’t kill em, someone else would have. Ed or something, don’t worry about it.”  
\----  
Ivy shrugs "Oh, I just meant that a cab would be unlikely."  
\-----  
Harley grinned, but its tinged with nervousness and worry.  
“Let’s just get to watch our movie marathon, Ivy.”  
\-----  
She nods, and they eventually find their way to her greenhouse.

**Poison Ivy’s Greenhouse**

Ivy’s greenhouse is like a second home to her, it’s plush and green and gorgeous— the plants are inviting and she walks right in, and needs a shower.  
\-----  
“How's your head, by the way? I’m sorry I had to knock ya out.” Harley said apologetically.  
\----  
Pamela touches the bump gingerly  
"It'll heal. Faster than whatever Nigma was going to do to me, so honestly I'll take it."  
She waved her hand loosely to the back.  
"You know where the shower is, and the plants like you, so go ahead, they won't cause you any trouble."  
\----  
Ivy walked over to a warm patch of sunshine and layed down, drinking in the energy from the warm rays  
But of course there’s a buzz on her phone, a text from the boss and a text from the lover in him. She knows how Ivy will react if she plans to leave, so she slips out quietly, as soon as she came in.

**Dark Studios**

He let The Queen of Hearts strap her to the machine.  
Before Jervis turned it on, he made his way over to the girl.  
He bent over slightly and frowned. He cupped the side of the girl’s face, his soft gloved thumb rubbing it.  
“I am so, so sorry.”  
He slid the hand away as he rose and turned. Once he walked to the Dream Machine he motioned to activate it. His hand hovered above the power switch. He hesitated; this was an unwelcome déjà vu. A flashback to another painful moment of madness.  
His finger flipped the switch.  
He just gave the girl a life with everything she’d ever want. Ponies, games, her family.  
Whatever she loved best, she had it for now and for always.  
He’d keep her from a life of torment, especially if it meant it would keep her torment out of his.  
“The Queen of Hearts. Watch her. We will all be sure she is healthy for as long as her body lives.”  
Jervis made his way to his chair, but stopped. He spotted the small group of wax rogues he had gathered together but about a week ago. He wanted to stage a practice execution, yet he never got to it. His entire life had been held captive by a handful of mushrooms.  
He approached the sculpture gallery of Gotham’s finest villains. Jonathan Crane, Harvey Dent, Harleen Quinzel, Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nigma, Victor Fries, Waylon Jones. Dead. All of them. He lowered his hat in a moment of silence.  
He darted his eyes to the farthest figure.  
“No! No, no, no! I am not you! Never! Does it look like I am laughing?”  
He walked toward it, pointing as he hollered. ”Wipe that bloody grin off your face! I only wish I could have personally ended you!”  
Jervis lifted a large, heavy golden axe. His muscles hoisted it with ease closer to The Joker.  
“Argh!”  
The axe rose above the clown’s head.  
“I hate you!”  
He lowered the weapon, beheading his worst enemy. A few more chops removed his limbs, halving and then quartering the former criminal ruler’s fake corpse.  
”And you!!”  
With a mighty swing, the axe sliced through Poison Ivy like paper, her torso hitting the floor like a felled tree.  
“You did this to me! You poisoned me you selfish cunt! You ruined what was left of my life!”  
He hacked at the wax body. “Die! Die!”  
“Aaaah!”  
The axe was thrown down the theatre, crashing into the stage.  
He stopped in front of a prop mirror that served as decorative looking glass.  
“Get this off of me!”  
He ripped at his violet coat, the buttons popping off with such force. He held it in front of him and tore it into thick shreds. He kicked the bits of fabric and buttons around, taking off the vest worn underneath.  
From behind him, his signature blue coat, albeit tattered, was draped over him.  
He didn’t even thank The Walrus.  
He haphazardly closed the coat over his bare torso, stopping just below the chest.  
His arms swung like pendulums as he groaned his way to his favourite seat.  
He stared at the television. He had left it on for the duration of his drug trip; the station running had to have been the one that played the news. Of course it was; a blue screen glowed like a flame, burning his pupils.  
His finger followed the tattoo that underlined his left eye.  
He spoke.  
“The crocodile and the man of faces two,  
Were baffled by what he would not do.”  
“With a city ruled by the wicked clown,  
Why didn’t The Mad Hatter help take him down?”  
“For he had his Wonderland, his little home,  
Leave him be, leave him alone!”  
“Then Riddle me this, and riddle me that,  
Why does the man with the gentleman’s hat,”  
“Now sit upon a scarlet throne,  
The King of Gotham, all his own?”


	9. Judge Not...

**Dark Studios**

Harvey’s mind was throbbing with pain.  
The voices, they repeated their words to Harvey, like a chant.  
‘Fight, damnit! Why didn’t you fight like the rest of them?!’ was Two-Face’s repeating words, like a broken record. Harvey could’ve handled that on its own, but... there was another.  
‘Judge them. They need to be punished. Their sentences must be served.’  
Harvey didn’t want this. He didn’t want any of it. It was becoming too much. Sure, he could deal with the angry, rage-fuelled half of him, demanding violence and chaos. That was alright. But not him... not The Judge. This new version of him was rapidly becoming stronger, threatening to take over completely. Who knows what he might do...  
Harvey stumbled away from the commotion out on the streets, going through with his plan to find Tetch. He still kept his hands to his ears, internally pleading for the noise in his mind to quieten down. If he wasn’t keeping it together now, he would have had hot tears rolling down his cheeks in mere desperation.  
He figured out that Tetch wouldn’t be at the broadcasting station anymore, but back at the theatre. His hideout.  
Harvey didn’t know what to expect, not even Two-Face did.  
Once he had arrived at Tetch’s place, he put his hands down, resting by his sides again. His expression still screamed for quiet. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was whimpering, as if he had been shot or stabbed. This pain wasn’t external, though. No, it was in his mind. The agony grew with every second that passed. He pleaded and begged quietly for it to stop.  
Another moment passed. The pain, suddenly gone, or just numbed. In fact, Harvey was gone. Two-Face was gone.  
A sneer creeped onto his asymmetrical face. He was different now. Unfamiliar. The whines of pain stopped, only to be replaced with cold chuckles.  
The Judge entered the building, looking for Dr. Jervis Tetch.  
\-----  
Black gloves tangled with each other, intertwined in a dance of desperation; their twitching the sign of a battle between man and fungi.  
The Mad Hatter chattered his teeth. Pools of sweat drenched his exposed chest.  
He wanted some more.  
Not his mind, not his soul. His physical being. The blood that circulated his veins made his flesh flush hues of pink; every plea sent from his demanding neurons translated into a racing heart to trembling limbs.  
He looked at the hunks of chopped Ivy. He hated her, yet he still needed her.  
Jervis's shoulders bounced; pathetic sobs of defeat was all he could do about it.  
Of course, unknown to him he’d have company. Furthermore, this company had no trouble entering. After all, he was deemed a guest of honour in Wonderland; promised a front row seat to a beheading.  
The whimpering went unnoticed by Jervis. They were echoes of his own tears, as far as his brain could tell.  
Then the laughter came. That was not his own echo; for there was no reason to laugh in here. His eyes flashed at the pile that was Joker.  
“You, shut up!-!!”  
Then there were the footsteps.  
There was no one alive who could have been able to get to him. To have made it here.  
The Mad Hatter stood up.  
A shadow emerged from the darkness, a ghost from Hell.  
Jervis Tetch lowered himself to his knees. His fingers brushed through his hair.  
“Oh…Oh…no….”  
Ghosts aren’t real. He tried to stop thinking in such fictional rubbish. All of this was real, it was happening.  
The closer the footsteps, the wider grew his eyes.  
“Oh…”  
This was something far more terrifying than a vengeful rogue’s spirit.  
Only one word made it out from his lips and into the darkness.  
“Batman…?”  
\-----  
The shadows were enough to cover the new guest, which was alright in Harvey’s books. In all honesty, he didn’t want to come to Wonderland like this.  
Still, he couldn’t control what he did anymore. He, along with Two-Face, had to sit back mentally and let the new side take control.  
From the darkness, he could see Tetch, on his knees. He knew there was a presence there. The Judge smiled. He could serve his sentence.  
‘No!’ came a voice from the back of his head. Very quiet, but it was still there. Harvey fought to take back control of his own body.  
The Judge groaned and shook his head, as if to rid him from his mind. Yet, he stayed, like a parasite sucking its host dry. What mattered currently was him getting to Tetch and finishing him. Punishing him for what he had done.  
A step forward. He was now out of the shadows. Sure, it looked like Two-Face. Harvey Dent. But the former district attorney was not there. This was an unfamiliar man, unknown to everyone.  
‘Justice must be served.’  
The words that came from this man were in a voice like no other. It wasn’t deep like Two-Face’s, yet it wasn’t the calm, collected tone that Harvey’s voice would be spoken in. No, this voice was slap bang in the middle. It was loud, confident, and stern. It was enough to make anyone’s spine tingle in fear.  
\-----  
For a second, just a brief moment, a smile flashed on Jervis’ face.  
It faded as quickly as it came; the reality breaking his ridiculous cheer.  
“Harvey…?”  
His friend’s demeanour was nothing he had seen before, a man unrecognisable despite the familiar faces.  
Jervis grabbed his chest. Hard slaps to the floor followed his aggressive movements as he used his hands to slide backward. It was then and there he wished it was The Batman who had come for him; at least there would have been a way to defend himself.  
The Mad Hatter shrieked like he had never done so before, like a child awakening from a nightmare of epic catastrophe.  
“A ghost!”  
He swung an arm in front of his face in abject horror. "A ghost!"  
His voice wailed, repeating the name of the deceased rogue in such mournful agony.  
“Harvey! H-Harvey!”  
Mascots began to surround the two. The servants awaited their orders; yet their master remained bawling and moaning.  
The Mad Hatter looked around at his slaves between shouts of ‘Harvey’. There was no use in commanding this mindless army even if they, too, could see the spirit.  
For nothing could kill what was already dead.  
\-----  
The Judge saw the man’s smile, that only lasted for a second. He frowned in response, and tilted his head to the side, signifying he didn’t know why he was smiling.  
He blinked. The Judge could feel Harvey getting stronger, threatening to take back control. Another groan escaped his mouth, and his eyes narrowed as if to silence the voices.  
“You are charged with one count of genocide. How do you-“  
A much louder growl interrupted his talking, and The Judge gripped his head as he had done so before, shaking his head from side to side in a rather emphasised manner.  
Harvey broke out of the mental prison he was in, being encouraged by Tetch’s cries. It was evident in the eyes. The snarl and cold chuckles dissolved into mere whimpers of desperation. The voice changed once more, becoming more soft and genuine. Pleading.  
“Tetch... I don’t w-wanna kill you...”  
The Judge reappeared in the form of his voice. Harvey shut his eyes tightly, not daring to open them in case he started bawling. It seemed he was having a battle of his own.  
The Judge spoke.  
“How... do you p-plead...?”  
\-----  
Jervis’ cries began to soften to a whisper. . There was no more of this shameful screaming. His expression melted to that of a young lamb, wide eyed and weak. His jaw hung agape as his lips trembled to find the words to say.  
The ghost before him seemed to fight itself in pain and suffering, despair and rage.  
The tragic act it performed in front of its killer was all for The Mad Hatter; a private show from the abode of the damned. It was nothing but torture to endure.  
The dance ended with a bow from the specter, kneeling all the way to the floor. No matter how close to the ground Harvey had descended, he would never fall as low as Dr. Jervis Tetch. No one could, not even the Joker. Not even in a million years.  
Then, a familiar voice cried to Tetch. That other side of the coin, the man who would be kind to Jervis at Arkham. The good man. The man the Mad Hatter didn’t deserve to hear.  
Harvey Dent was of multiple minds, even in death. This stabbed at Jervis’ heart like a steak in a vampire’s chest. Was Harvey’s lack of rest a punishment for this monster?  
Jervis gasped weakly. The water from his eyes leaking into the sides of his mouth choked his words.  
“But-I k—“  
He shut up as soon as his friend continued, resuming the speech of the vindictive soul. Not 'Big Bad Harv' but this other, persecuting being.  
He shut up as soon as his friend continued, resuming the speech of the vindictive soul. Not 'Big Bad Harv' but this other, persecuting being.  
His eyes finally broke from the dead man, rising to the blade of his guillotine.  
It stood far above him, as though to silently agree with the charge Harvey had thrown upon The Mad Hatter, to ask its owner the very same question:  
‘How do you plead?’  
There was a pause. He glanced at the felled wax Ivy, who seemed to sneer at him.The Mad Hatter wrenched his facial muscles into a vicious frown, barring his teeth like a predator.  
A tattered arm reached out to the ghost. The black gauntlet balled into a fist and slammed the floor with such impetus, his wrist burned.  
A roar followed, enhanced by the pain.  
“Not guilty!”  
\-----  
The Judge copied Tetch in keeping his mouth agape. He seemed to be speechless. That was because it wasn’t the correct answer. The Judge wasn’t going to let him get away with what he had done.  
He hung his head low, downward, facing the ground. Another flash of Harvey came back to the surface, the quiet cries returning and filling the room. His head was a mess, and it throbbed in sheer agony. Oh, how he wanted it all to end.  
He silenced himself, though, with a small yet sharp intake of breath. He took the chance and opened his eyes once more, his sight still blurred but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t quite crying yet. Slowly, he moved his head up, to see Tetch again. His lip quivered, he was about to speak.  
What stopped him from doing so was the same shout that The Judge heard. Harvey flinched, noticeably. It seemed he was showing his reaction to The Mad Hatter’s roar even after it had happened.  
Harvey hated seeing both himself and Tetch like this. For once, he was showing... fear.  
He was scared. Of himself. He couldn’t control his actions anymore. His body shook. He was trembling.  
Yet, Harvey had control. At least for now.  
“T-T-Tetch... J-Jervis...?”  
The tone really spoke more than his words did. He was terrified, to say the least. The shakiness weaved its way into his speech, emphasising just how on the verge of tears he was.  
\-----  
Tetch’s shoulders rose and fell with rapid huffs. He smacked his hands on the ground, watching the phantom before him merely open his mouth in awe. He kept a toothed scowl when he glued his quivering eyes on his victim’s soul.  
The Mad Hatter thought he had to keep himself defensive. He assumed he must remain firm and powerful to do whatever he could to convince the ghostly judge of his innocence and of Ivy’s guilt.  
Most of all, he had to convince a jury called ‘Me, Myself and I.’  
However, he didn’t get the legal scolding he so surely expected.  
No. Another witness came to the stand. A witness on his side.  
The new witness flinched and quivered before giving its statement, looking right into the eyes of the mad defendant. Such a gaze pierced directly into Jervis’ own soul.  
A light seemed to fill the space between them. Again, that taste of liquor brushed his tongue, the faint smell of cigar once off-putting now ever so comforting. If this wasn't a hallucination then it was magic. He welcomed it. Jervis Tetch was not one to doubt divination. He could feel his legs give him strength. His friend deserved that much from him.  
“Harvey?”  
He put one foot forward.  
“I…am sorry…”  
It was the first of many, each step faster than the last.  
“It-it wasn’t my fault…it wasn’t my fault…”  
The faster he walked the faster he tried to explain, repeating his only excuse until he found himself looking right up to the woeful ghost. He was face to faces with his crime.  
“I-I didn't want to kill you.”  
\----  
As Tetch’s footsteps replaced the silence, Harvey got up as well, still shaking with mere terror. His gaze was fixed on The Mad Hatter though, regardless of how much he wanted to look away, to walk away.  
‘What?’ all of the voices in Harvey’s head echoed in unison. They all were agreeing on something. Tetch was wrong.  
He frowned ever so slightly, showing his confusion. Again, tears formed in his eyes, for a reason Harvey himself didn’t even know. His expression grew more prominent as he tried to prevent himself from crying.  
“B-but...” Harvey looked down at the ground, at his feet. “I ain’t d-dead...?”  
The tone in his voice sounded unsure of his own words. Was he dead? He didn’t even know. It was rather plausible though; he felt dead.  
Soon Harvey’s glassy eyes found Tetch’s, the frown disappearing. It was replaced with a look of fear, looking for reassurance. This was something he had only done once before... the last time Tetch was at his hideout. Sure, he would look towards his coin for decisions regarding his crimes, but now he was looking for real, human reassurance. He needed it right now.  
\------  
Jervis blinked a few times. As Harvey looked down to study his shoes, Tetch did the same. He had to examine his friend just as much as Dent needed to; now they both were questioning whether Harvey was dead or alive.  
There was nothing Jervis could utter to solve this mystery. There was only one thing he could do.  
He reached out to Harvey and touched his shoulder. A gentle squeeze confirmed his solid state; contradicting the belief that the man was of supernatural material.  
There was a long break.  
Jervis’ glove remained cupped over the white side of the other rogue’s upper arm. He wanted to know if Harvey was alive more so than Two-Face. He couldn’t care if “Big Bad Harv” was still in this world.  
The small grin returned to Jervis’ face. This reassuring expression came with a single sentence that could hopefully dispel Harvey’s fear.  
“You are alive!”  
The two men forcefully met at the breast. The Mad Hatter’s arm wrapped around Two Face’s upper torso and patted his back in a masculine show of friendship. He balled a bundle of black and white fabric as he laughed.  
“You are alive! You did not kill yourself!” He ceased the embrace and pushed back, his arms now clinging to the higher part of Harvey’s limbs. “Oh callooh callay! You live-“  
He stopped; that splash of euphoria did nothing to put out the flames of penitence.  
He let go of the other. His arms fell limply to his sides.  
“I cannot explain myself, I’m afraid, Harvey.” He looked up as he quoted that book, the novel that let him escape to a dream now leading him deeper into a nightmare.  
The ClockWork Orange style tattoo adorning his left eye was one of the biggest stamps of that fate.  
“…Because I am not myself, you see.”  
\------  
Harvey flinched at the hand on his arm, his trembling no doubt apparent to the other man now. He quickly shifted his gaze to said hand, then back to Tetch’s eyes. He felt himself be embraced by Tetch. In response, Harvey’s arm slowly moved up and he patted the other man’s back gently. In reality, he was grateful for such comforting actions.  
Once they had pulled away, Harvey blinked a few times, as though he was a robot that was faltering. His mind didn’t cease to pain him, and on a large scale too. He closed his eyes once more and groaned, just as The Judge had.  
“I just... w-why...?”  
Another groan. Harvey put a hand to his head, frowning as he kept his eyes tightly shut.  
“What c-changed...?”  
His voice changed once again, towards the end of his question. The Judge was making a comeback. Harvey’s whimpers returned with it, as he mumbled pleas to stop the pain, seemingly to himself.  
Harvey shook again. Yet, he focused on Tetch as he slowly opened his eyes and awaited his answer.  
\----  
Jervis took a few steps back as Harvey seemed to battle something, to battle someone.  
That was of no surprise to The Mad Hatter. However, his experience did teach him to be wary of the very much alive other half.  
While the groaning voice that tried to take control didn’t have its usual raspy, deep sound, it still wasn’t very pleasant. Was it Two-Face? Someone else? A third? Whoever it was, Jervis knew he had to be cautious.  
His eyes quickly darted in place when a myriad of things flooded to his head. He scanned every memory, every mental recording he could recall of Harvey. He landed on something particular, something recent, and stuck with it.  
Jervis didn’t give Harvey a specific answer. At least not one he was looking for. Instead he gave him a question.  
He spoke softly.  
“Does stimulation like this help you...stay focused? I found that it does, if it's the right company of course.”  
He placed a hand behind his back, turning around. The other hand rose as he chatted. “So I will begin at the beginning, and go on till the end: then stop.”  
The decorated hallway once appeared like a whimsical forest in a fairy tale that lead to his dream machine. Now it was a hallway to a grim reality he was trying to tuck away in the hopes he could fix just a small corner of his Hell.  
While The Mad Hatter escaped the conviction of genocide, he hadn’t wished he cried so much. He’d be punished for it now, drowning in his own tears.  
"It all begins...with a mushroom."  
\----  
With such a thud, The Mad Hatter fell to his throne.  
His side completely crashed into it; a trembling arm rose and with lack of any grace and pointed at the wax figures.  
His finger seemed to fixate in the direction of the chopped green and orange pieces of what was a woman.  
"A mushroom and a promise."  
He lowered his hand to the side of his head. His hat fell to the floor, a small 'pfftp' that was of no significance. However, the sharp 'crack' of the ivory pistol that slid out from the rim cut the silence like a sharp knife.  
"She promised me it would take away any pain."  
He laughed.  
"Of course, I have never met anyone here who didn't want something in return. Tit for tat among rogues, is it not?"  
Jervis kept quiet. He just lay there, spilling off the side of his chair. The need for his next fix reared its ugly head again. With no phantom to hide from, his body could beg for the substance.  
"A-any man could give her plants a plot of land for a handful."  
He gazed deeply into the dark hallway. His face slid on the side of the seat's arm, his cheek pressing up and partly obstructing his vision in consequence.  
"For an unlimited supply, I could give her plants their own world."  
The Mad Hatter shook a single black digit.  
"What a curious plan."  
\-----  
Harvey’s eyes followed the hat as it fell to the ground. He blinked. How symbolic.  
The hat was off. Tetch was showing his true feelings, hiding nothing from the rogue that stood there.  
As he had done once before, he stood in The Mad Hatter’s line of view. He blinked again. He wasn’t really focusing on his explanation anymore, more so concentrating on being present, in the moment.  
The Judge reared his ugly head once more, the transition between men being visibly noticeable. His eyes seemed to grow darker, along with the sneer that appeared on his face.  
The Judge had him right where he wanted him. Weak. Vulnerable. It seemed he was listening too, as the new version of Harvey responded in the previous strong voice. His head turned to gaze at the broken wax statue of the woman in green.  
“You blame Poison Ivy for your crime.”  
It sounded like it should have been a question, up for debate, but no, The Judge was almost amused. How could Tetch simply lay the blame on another rogue, when it was clearly himself at fault? It angered The Judge.  
\----  
Jervis didn’t immediately raise his head to glance at Harvey. Sadly, the hold the mushrooms had on The Mad Hatter stole minutes off his reaction time. Jervis Tetch just kept losing and losing. It never seemed to end.  
That got Tetch’s head to spin.  
His groggy expression gradually changed. His eyelids opened heavily, matching the speed at which his hindered brain processed the transition from The Good Man to a lecturing punisher. They became wide like the saucers he laid his tea cups on.  
The Mad Hatter was backed into a corner almost literally.  
Smack!  
He tightened his grasp on the arm of his throne, moving his upper body forward and snarling not unlike a trapped animal.  
“Yes! I blame that bitch!”  
His arm lashed toward the darkened hall, his fingers curling into his palm. “He jammed the same hand into his breast, to join the opposite one. He banged them against his sternum with each syllable.  
“She! Did! This! To! Me!”  
Blond hair whipped about from the sheer vigour with which he brutally declared his innocence.  
Tears commenced their flow down Tetch’s face.  
“Don’t you understand, Harvey? Do you not know of that wicked temptress' way?  
\----  
The Judge didn’t seem to be persuaded by Tetch’s cry of innocence. It didn’t change the fact that he had killed hundreds, if not thousands. That was all The Judge cared about. The Mad Hatter was still guilty to him.  
Harvey, however, believed his every word. Trust is a friendship’s most valuable factor, and he really did trust him.  
The Judge merely chuckled. A cold, hollow chuckle that echoed around the room. It was the sort of noise that gave off the feeling it came from the depths of Hell itself.  
Harvey didn’t want to laugh. On the contrary, he wanted to cry out, to tell Tetch ‘God, I believe you! I always have!’  
But he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried.  
The Judge answered for him.  
“You still committed the crime. You must pay for what you did. Your sentence must be served. The other rogues will be punished for what they have done as well. They are criminals who must own up to their own crimes. As you have the highest body count, you will be judged first.”  
\----  
Tetch was confused by Harvey's response. The cold laughter shook through his spine, freezing his muscles to remain contracted in every part of his body.  
"No, no no no no..."  
The Punisher went on with his agenda, a plan appearing ever more like a prediction than a proposal.  
Jervis furrowed his brow. He peered at all his wax cohorts. All to be prosecuted in an order determined by the magnitude of their crimes. Not a single one was innocent; he knew the lot of them killed long before he had. This group...it included the demon who fought for poor Harvey Dent's person.  
The Mad Hatter then quoted not a book, but one of his television stories. To him, it fit quite well.  
"By what right does the wolf judge the lion?"  
The residents of Wonderland surrounded Harvey. Their master prodded at the charcoal half of the magistrate's attire.  
"Have you not taken a life? Who are you to lower the gavel? To close the barred doors and then wrap the noose around our necks?"  
His frown was equally as condemnatory.  
"Unless, you end this quest with a leap from a roof?"  
The Carpenter put a hand on Harvey's dark shoulder.  
Jervis pointed to the back of his head and jabbed it aggressively, his tone almost a sordid hiss.  
"Now, I suggest you abandon your hypocritical scheme and return to the forgotten, cobweb-laced corner of this good man's mind, where you belong!"  
\-----  
The ice cold cackle that emitted from The Judge’s lips seemed more maniacal, more chaotic. Once he had silenced himself, a wide, condescending smile stayed on his features. His eyes narrowed.  
Harvey continued to fight for control, but it made no difference. The Judge was simply too strong. He seemed to feed off the sorrow that came from Tetch, and it made him more powerful and prone to staying in control.  
Then he felt the hand on his shoulder, but paid no attention to The Carpenter, deeming him unimportant at the moment. The Judge leaned forward, his and The Mad Hatter’s faces mere centimetres from each other. Face to faces.  
“You think Harvey Dent is a good man?” His head shook. He seemed disappointed. “Quite the contrary. He’s just as murderous as the rest of you.”  
The Judge was talking about Harvey as if he was a completely different person, who wasn’t present. He may as well have not been. He wouldn’t be getting a say in the situation anytime soon.  
A frustrated sigh came from the man of two faces, in response to the aforementioned rogue’s attempts at fighting back in his head. The Judge wouldn’t give up that easily. He stood up straight, almost looking down at Tetch with a sneer.  
“I will not rest until I punish every. Single. One of you. That includes Two-Face, for he is just as deserving of judgement.” An undertone of a growl was present in his voice, suggesting Two-Face, ‘Big Bad Harv’ himself wanted to stop The Judge now. A plain but poison-filled smile fell upon the familiar, yet very unfamiliar man’s face.  
It took a moment, but he finally shook off The Carpenter’s hand. The Judge would only focus on Tetch and Tetch alone.  
The groans that suggested hope for Harvey were smaller and weaker now. The good man was losing the battle.  
But he was determined to win the war.  
\------  
Tetch didn't know it but he, too, was fighting in a war between his friend and this...judgemental thing.  
Perhaps it was good that he didn't know the possible futility of the battle. His ignorance to the reality that was the Hell inside Harvey Dent was a blessing from Heaven.  
"Yes! Harvey is the only one of us who doesn't belong on your godforsaken list! He was the only one of us on the right side of the law! You'd end the life of an innocent man! No better than..."  
He paused.  
"Me!!"  
When he heard the familiar snarl of The Bad Man protest his sentence, It was then Jervis realized there was perhaps a third being. It only made him angrier. How could this personality have any say on the life of a man he only just took over?  
"You will only kill yourself! What purpose does that serve?"  
He grabbed the breast of this new person, grasping the dead center of his bi-coloured suit.  
"If you haven't yet realized, you share bodies! And judging by your garb, there is no room for you anyway!"  
This wasn't even about Jervis' innocence anymore. This was about saving the life of Harvey Dent.  
Despite ending the lives of thousands, maybe The Mad Hatter could save just one tonight.  
He let go of the man and slumped back into the chair. A tired grin crept upon his ugly face.  
"Besides. I think I got to all of them before you did."  
\-----  
The Judge kept his mouth open in mere disgust as Tetch grabbed his clothes, his suit. His expression then changed into an ugly frown, once that was in genuine anger and frustration.  
What made him listen was The Mad Hatter’s last words.  
This made The Judge growl in response. Why couldn’t he just end him already? Serve the sentence and be done with Jervis Tetch.  
He couldn’t do it because something stopped him. Or rather, someone stopped him.  
There was still a little fight left in Harvey, as he was determined to take back control of his own actions, and push The Judge deep down into his mind, to be forgotten.  
It wasn’t so simple, though. He would have to chip away slowly to win. Destroy him from the inside out. It was a battle of mentality against himself. A deadly game of chance, where if you slip up once, that’s it.  
How far down the rabbit hole would Harvey have to go to get himself back?  
The worst side of him continued to fight against Tetch. For he was not a friend as Harvey would have said, but a foe. The voice continued to echo around the room, as if he were a ghost, haunting the mad rogue.  
“Unlikely, Tetch. They’re smart enough. They would have protected themselves from the hypnotisation you fed to the city.”  
Another snarl came from The Judge, and he stepped forward as Tetch sat back, almost copying his movements.  
“And besides, I would be doing Gotham a favour by ridding it of its parasites. Harvey Dent is no good man. He is not innocent. He is a twisted, vicious monster. If the only way to kill him is to kill myself, then so be it.”  
And, as if to settle the argument, he repeated in a harsh, stern tone.  
“Harvey Dent is NOT innocent.


	10. ...Lest Ye Be Judged

**Dark Studio**

Jervis tilted his head to the side. He produced a pensive stare, not completely surprised the other rogues just might have survived. Was Killer Croc one to watch the news on a nightly basis? Would The Riddler do anything else but busy his mind with the conception of his next game?  
Was The Joker even suggestive to Tetch's tools? Jervis always knew that monster's brainwaves didn't match those of other men.  
The Mad Hatter's leather-clad hand tickled the underside of his chin.  
"If I failed to slaughter those cretins, what makes you so sure you can?"  
He pursed his lips.  
"Tsk tsk tsk."  
"See? How many innocent people..."  
His swallowed and forced himself to continue.  
"H-How many innocent people did I kill, yet fail to end the lives of those most deserving? Let that be a glimpse into your future."  
The Mad Hatter kept his stare adhesively on Harvey's entire face, talking to anyone who'd listen.  
"Even if you went to them personally, don't you think they'd take civilians down with them? Hostages? You are not Batman. As much as I cannot believe these next words, I wouldn't put you at his level. For he would not kill an innocent, not even us."  
Jervis furrowed his brow.  
"Now tell me, by what evidence do you have to inculcate Harvey Dent? Aren't all his crimes done by the one who calls himself 'Big Bad Harv?'"  
He removed a glove and flashed an open palm before shaping it into the symbol of a gun.  
The Mad Hatter bent his thumb two times.  
"Was it not always the will of the burned hand that fired the gun? Was it not Harvey who was a captive?"  
The finger weapon rose to Dent's face.  
"So, as I said before. Wouldn't these rogues use the blameless as defense? You'd just end up being no different from them. You'd have to break through a law-abiding human shield to serve your justice!"  
The Mad Hatter's eyes brightened at his last words, the light that reflected sharp like a flash of lightening. In his quest to scrape the bottom of the barrel for reasons to keep his own life going, he'd certainly show the other man what obvious reasons he possessed.  
\----  
The Judge listened to Tetch’s words, not agreeing, but still hearing him out. He was, after all, a judge. By definition, he had to listen to both sides of the story.  
That didn’t mean he had to side with Tetch, though.“That’s true, I am not Batman. I am better than him, as I have the guts to really make this city crime-free. The no killing rule that the bat seems to enforce does not work well in stopping the crime levels.” The Judge rumbled, just like thunder, or the bang of a gavel calling for order. That was what he wanted. Law and order.  
Admittedly, Harvey wanted that too. He just didn’t want it like this. Not in this way. He felt it wrong to solve crime by committing crime yourself. But, he couldn’t express that he disagreed.  
As far as Two-Face was concerned though... well, he just wanted control again. Who was The Judge to appear like this and take over? The thought alone made his blood boil, the anger evident in the bad half of the man’s face.To answer Tetch's question about who was really to blame in terms of the two men in one, The Judge hummed deeply and aggressively.  
“They are two different men, joined to make one. Two-Face is the one responsible for the crimes, but Harvey Dent is the mere onlooker, equally at fault.”  
\-----  
The Mad Hatter shook his head furiously. His hair whacked about, each twist of the neck being accompanied by fierce protest.  
“No! no, no, no!’’  
Jervis directed a critical digit in this man’s face. So close, in fact, that the tip nearly tapped the attorney’s charred flesh.  
“You call a man chained to the audience a mere onlooker?”  
His hand crippled itself into a claw, expressing the rage and defense that Tetch fired at the judge. That’s all he was able to do, defend himself, defend his friend, defend, defend.  
“What force do you use to keep The Good Man from speaking up, hm? Are you not tying him down right now? And yet, he is at fault? Do you not think an evil like 'Two-Face' would easily do the same?”  
The Mad Hatter rose from his throne to reach eye level with whatever was taking Harvey over.  
“Well, sometimes I have believed in six impossible things before breakfast. And that? I could never accept that inconceivable drivel on any day, even for a mere second! I think you have your concept of justice all messed up!”  
The raspy, deep groans of Two-Face made The Mad Hatter grimace. He didn’t let it last, though. He couldn’t; his contempt made his facial muscles contort to reveal only malice.  
“Why don’t you stop playing judge and let a real man of the law speak! Be gone with you! Be gone!” Jervis slashed his arms around, shooing the mad man away like a pest.  
His last holler boomed like thunder; a storm was brewing between two very dark clouds.  
“Be gone!!”  
\----  
The Judge didn’t flinch at the harsh words of Tetch, but Harvey did.  
With every holler and shout that sounded in The Good Man’s defence, The Judge grew weaker.  
Even if Harvey and Two-Face didn’t always agree in terms of crime, they both quietly came to the conclusion that the worse half was powerful enough to temporarily halt The Judge.  
The Judge was now seen as a middleman, a barrier between Tetch and Harvey. The real Harvey. The Judge was the inbetween. The ‘I don’t know’ between the ‘yes’ and ‘no’. He needed to be cut out just as quickly as he had appeared.  
The sudden outburst of anger that came from the darker parts of this two-faced man’s mind seemed enough to overthrow The Judge. The recently crowned king was shoved to the side, to be replaced with one of the two original monarchs.  
Harvey felt dead. In his own body. He certainly wasn’t deceased, though. At worst, he was merely being corrupted, like a computer with a virus. A mighty strong one at that.  
More blinks, more faltering and groaning, until...  
Finally. The lesser of two evils, between The Judge and Two-Face, was in control. At least, for now. Raspy breaths filled the otherwise silent atmosphere in the room. To Tetch, it would be the most familiar thing to hear right now. The man’s eyes also seemed to turn slightly lighter, less cruel, but only marginally. “Big Bad Harv” was finally back.  
The first thing he did was reach for the coin, safely being kept in his pocket. A combination of a sigh and a chuckle erupted from the criminal as he took out their trusty symbol of justice.  
The noises of happiness soon disappeared, to be replaced with a deep and menacing voice. Grizzly, like a rabid dog about to tear into its unfortunate victim. The equally threatening eyes rested upon Tetch. This demeanour was familiar though, and Harvey told Two-Face, made him promise that he wouldn’t hurt the man in front of them.  
“The Judge is a real son of a bitch, ain’t he?”  
Two-Face began to flip the coin repeatedly. It was only absentminded, not for any particular reason for now. The familiar ‘tink, tink, tink’ of metal gently hitting against thumbnail as the coin landed started to become apparent to nearby ears. It was rhythmic, almost hypnotic.  
\----  
Jervis would have preferred Harvey. With this takeover, Tetch still could not lower his shoulders in relief.  
He opened his mouth to interject the wicked laughing, to question if 'Big Bad Harv' had any plans to prey upon this weakened rogue, 'The Sad Hatter'. He was an easy kill to say the least.  
His eyes followed the silver coin; given the fact that he had yet to be blown into the next world he assumed every flip was landing in his favour. The beat each launch produced warned Jervis of every moment his fate was tested.  
“A new friend of yours?”  
This was the first time The Mad Hatter ever spoke with Two-Face alone, intimately. He had never landed in the crosshair of The Bad Man, who was usually controlled and tucked away. He only lashed out when Jervis was in the safety of his cell, or among others. Either pillows or tables sufficed to shield him from the man's shouts and violence.  
\----  
Two-Face had to laugh.  
“God, no. Fuckin’ invader.” He mused frustratedly, now moving the coin over his fingers and back again. He figured he could, no, he should be civil to Tetch. He deserved that much.  
“Now... goody two shoes in there...” He pointed to his own head, signifying what became of Harvey right now. “Told me not to hurt ya, as much as I wanna. So you’re alright.” His tone grew more monotone with every word that passed, less gravely and cruel.  
Now he was more relaxed. It was evident in his stance, his words. A small sigh emitted from him as his eyes slowly shifted to actually look at his surroundings. He came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t allowed to kill him.  
For such an evil and unforgiving criminal being in control right now, he was still put in his place by The Good Man in his head.  
\-----  
Jervis tittered in response to Two-Face's reply. The gun he knew Harvey had on his person could make an appearance at any time, should there be a sudden sharp imbalance of power. All he had ever seen were people running for their lives or trying to sedate Big Bad Harv, neither of which was safe to attempt.  
He brushed his hair back and smiled, the grin hiding his fear. His flashed dentition was akin to the grimace of a frightened primate.  
"Oh...I am ever so glad Harvey is there."  
Jervis Tetch waved at Harvey Dent. Two unlikely men to one day build a relationship. While Harvey's mouth remained forcefully shut, The Mad Hatter believed no intruder could ever cover his eyes or block his ears.  
"Hello, my friend."  
He lowered to grab his hat.  
"And thank you. B-both of you."  
He respectfully glanced up at Two-Face, still shrinking himself in a show of cowardice and surrender.  
He continued flatly.  
"That man was going to kill you."  
Jervis sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His voice began audible but faded toward the end.  
"I think there was more than enough of that... for one evening..."  
He pointed sheepishly, not having an easy time meeting eyes with The Bad Man.  
"I...don't suppose...you understand the temptress' way?"  
Now, The Mad Hatter sought reassurance from Harvey.  
While his body begged for the woman's toxic drug, his soul pleaded for her responsibility to be recognized. It ached for all of this to be marked onto her, carved like onto wood.  
\----  
Two-Face could quite obviously see Tetch’s nervousness. It wasn’t well hidden. Still, he said nothing.  
The hand that wasn’t holding the coin, the unscarred hand, was resting at his side. The fingers gently tapped against the white half of his trousers.  
Harvey wanted to wave back, to express that he heard Tetch, but he was constricted by his own mind. He would have to wait until he was either back in Arkham and getting treatment or he somehow regained control.  
For now though, Two-Face continued to be unusually urbane, as ordered by The Good Man.  
Tetch’s words got to the both of them, but Two-Face was the one that answered.  
“Yeah, ‘course I know ‘bout what Pam can do. We both do.”  
He figured this simple response would suffice, and ease Hatter’s need for reassurance. The tone it was spoken in should have helped; it almost sounded as if Harvey was saying the words as well.  
The Good Man was strong enough to muster a small smile at the man, regardless of how much Two-Face didn’t want to.  
\------  
The smile Two-Face offered The Mad Hatter in an empathetic response was lovely. Simply lovely. Finally, Jervis could stand up straight and let his shoulders rest. He just wanted to hear that, to be listened to by someone other than himself.  
He spun his hat a top his head, grinning with a playful victory. He had been found not guilty in the court of Wonderland!  
“Three against one,” He laughed, “That 'Judge' wouldn’t have known the truth even if it hit him in the backside!”  
A dark smirk dared to paint itself upon his visage. His face was the canvas bearing a picture of warped justice.  
“Perhaps we three can discuss her punishment over tea.”  
The light that filled the space between the two men now flickered red and blue, the windows from above blinding them; before Jervis could howl in dread, a stampede of footsteps rumbled closer.  
He opened his mouth to order his soldiers. When his lips parted, the voices of a hostile mob drowned him out. However, the look of grovelling panic could not be covered from Harvey’s sight.  
“Get down, you son of a bitch!”  
Harvey Bullock was faster with his army than The Mad Hatter. What seemed like a hundred guns of a hundred men encircled the rogues; that was probably because adrenaline had Jervis seeing triple.  
A large cop grappled his collar and with great might hammered Tetch’s head into the hardwood floor.  
The massive officer ripped Jervis’ arms about with no care, tightening his wrists into cuffs until Tetch hollered for him to stop.  
The Mad Hatter dragged his head up to eye Harvey. Not Two-Face; Harvey. His expression cried out in an anguish that seeped into his voice.  
“The girl! Harvey, please don’t let them wake her! Harvey! Pl-“  
A second drive to the floor turned his words into slow groans; a third and final blow silenced Jervis on impact. A fistful of blond hair was let go; it fell to rest on his skull, limp not unlike himself.  
The thin river of blood trailed toward Harvey’s white shoe. A moat of a deep cherry ran across the out sole, a light stain crept into the toe.  
Another policeman approached Harvey, gun directed at the villain’s temple.  
Harvey Bullock shouted from the crowd of armed men, screaming in pure revulsion.  
“The Hell is he talking about? What girl? Talk or I’ll blow your ass away! I don’t depend on no damn coin here, so you better fucking open your trap, you freak!”  
\-----  
“Yeah, we’ll see ‘bout th-“  
The deep voice was halted by the sound of police sirens wailing through the air. Both cursed, one internal and the other external.  
Two-Face turned his head to the source of the flashing lights, the window that showed them the police were approaching. He growled frustratedly. The Bad Man wanted to just take his gun out and silence those pigs. Harvey assured him that ‘It’ll be fine, just don’t kill anyone.’.  
Even his thoughts were silenced, as the familiar voice of another, less admired Harvey rumbled through the air.  
“Get down, you son of a bitch!”  
It all went by in a flash. From the commotion of the police spilling into the room, to Harvey shouting at Two-Face to ‘Defend Tetch, damnit!’, to his eyes frantically darting around at the situation, it was almost dizzying. Especially after the scenario with The Judge.  
He was frozen in place, merely watching it all unfold before his eyes. Two-Face couldn’t give a damn about The Mad Hatter, truthfully, but Dent cared. If he wasn’t so stuck in place, he would have done as he was told, no questions asked. But he couldn’t.  
Two-Face looked down, at the blood coming towards him. It had stained the good side’s shoe. Out came another deep and grizzly groan, which was once again abruptly silenced by the feeling of something pressed against his temple. His head tilted back up, and his eyes shifted sideways to see an officer pointing their gun at him.  
In surrender, he put his hands up. It was the best thing to do.  
Harvey Bullock’s voice broke through the commotion again, a question this time, albeit an angered one.  
His mouth opened to answer truthfully, as ordered by Harvey in his head. What stopped him though was the name.  
“Freak!”  
This single word made Two-Face growl like an animal, and give Bullock a death glare, which was met with an equally angry gaze from the policeman.  
“Don’t call me a freak, Harv.”  
If Two-Face’s sheer viciousness wasn’t apparent to Bullock before, it definitely would’ve been now. He practically hissed the words at him. Still, he didn’t meet the police with his own weapons, so to them, he was vulnerable.  
Legally, they couldn’t shoot an unarmed man who wasn’t doing anything to provoke violence. At this, a very faint smirk appeared on the two-faced man’s features, shared by the two men.  
“The girl’s no doubt gonna be traumatised once she comes offa the machine.” A sly tone snaked its way into his voice as he spoke his next words, only subtly giving away information. Of course, it made Bullock more infuriated, but the other Harvey would allow that from Two-Face. For now.  
\-----  
The fits of animalistic growls did nothing but irritate Harvey Bullock. If it weren’t up to the very law he swore to enforce, he’d have had his men obliterate these wastes of carbon years ago.  
“I’ll call ya whatever the hell I want ta! I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em!”  
His roars were backed by confidence. The black and white rogue was surrendering, despite his sassy little retorts. Bullock would let the man say what he pleased; it didn’t take from the fact he just wrecked not one, but two hideous pieces of Gotham’s Rogue Gallery. They had a one way trip to the dingiest cells of Arkham Asylum.  
Harvey grimaced at the thought.  
His cocky smile warped to an annoyed glower. He stopped internally gloating to process what followed. Did that putrid abomination try to pull at his heartstrings over a girl he helped kidnap? It made Bullock’s stomach churn.  
The burly man hopped once and tensed his shoulders. He made heavy breaths, only the slightest misstep away from breaking Dent’s neck.  
“Aww, you make me sick, Dent. The whole damn lot of you!”  
He stomped toward Two-Face, his mass bulging with what could have been muscle. His louring, deep set eyes peered holes into the rogue, as many holes as his gun would have made. If only he could just fire!  
“Traumatized? And you absolute shit stains are hurting kids now, too?”  
He landed a hard kick to Jervis’ skull, belching a guffaw at the loose shake of his neck.  
He kept his shoe on the Hatter’s head, bending down. “Fucking perverts.” He spat on the criminal, the spray making little glitters in Tetch’s hair.  
He threw up an arm to make the next direction, narrowly missing Dent’s face. That was intentional.  
“Alright, everyone search for a girl! And aren’t those freaky cartoon things people? I think they have a card or something.” He circled the side of his face with a chubby finger. “’Round the ears.”  
Bullock took pleasure in yanking Dent’s arms and ramming them together before trapping them in cuffs. “Don’t think you won’t have anything to be traumatized about. I can promise you that.”  
All around them, Wonderland was being destroyed. The Walrus, The Carpenter, Billy The Lizard, The Queen of Hearts. Now mere humans of the real world, taking refuge in the arms of the law. Their King, once of Wonderland and for only mere hours Gotham, was being dragged into the shadows.  
The Mad Hatter was carried off; his limbs flailed and neck drooped with every step the officers who held him took. His tattooed eye slowly opened, staying half lidded. Jervis Tetch was taking the walk of shame toward the darkness that was his future. He would never be able to go back to yesterday; he was a different person then.  
“Okay, lets get yer ugly mug outta here.” Bullock began to shove at Two-Face.  
“It’s Hell…” He laughed.  
“I mean Arkham for you.”  
\-----  
“Just tellin’ ya the facts.” The calm voice of Harvey Dent returned, and the sly smile remained.  
It quickly diminished, though, as Bullock kicked the already injured Tetch and spat on him. That did nothing to calm Two-Face. Even if they were criminals, they should have been handled in a more civil way. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, Harvey told himself to calm the worse side down.  
Soon his arms were twisted behind him to have his wrists cuffed together. He didn’t struggle or spout any remarks, as he was too busy watching the situation around him, especially the cops that handled Tetch. It was a sad sight, to say the least. The Mad Hatter was the least violent compared to the other rogues, and he just wanted to be in his own world, his Wonderland. Now, there would be no chance of that happening.  
Dent looked over his shoulder at Bullock as the handcuffs were being tightened, and he sneered.  
“You cops should be ashamed of yourselves. We didn’t even fight back this time, and you let one of your men beat Tetch almost half to death.” And to add insult to injury, he made a tutting noise, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.  
“Tsk tsk tsk.”  
Still, no violence was involved, not on the rogues’ side anyway.  
What made Harvey groan was the fact that Tetch was inevitably the best out of the lot of them, the rogues gallery. Now he was being reduced to the worst of them, beaten and bruised excessively by the police. Both Harvey and Two-Face knew that The Mad Hatter was different now. He wouldn’t be the civil, peace-desiring man he had always been.  
Harvey Dent let himself be hissed and laughed at by Bullock. He didn’t really care. What did matter was Tetch’s condition, and how he would feel at Arkham.  
He replied to Bullock’s jeers with a quiet snarl.  
“Yeah, yeah. It’s not like we haven’t been locked up in the loony bin before.”  
\-----  
The taunting ‘tsks’ prompted Harvey Bullock to tense his hold on Two-Face’s wrists. He jerked once, shoving the rogue a little further.  
“Ha! I’d have let them finish the job if it weren’t for our good city’s laws. Count yourselves lucky, scum.”  
He peered at The Mad Hatter being pulled away, locking eyes with the single open one Jervis hollowly stared back with. Bullock bared his teeth at him. The aggression he wanted to break Tetch with was taken out on Dent, manhandling him like a stress toy. It was cathartic.  
“They won’t take too kindly on the inside, though. Not for people like you. Not any longer.”  
Harvey roughly hustled Two-Face toward the exit, following The Mad Hatter from afar. Little droplets of blood lined up at varying distances leading to Jervis, being smudged into streaks when either Harvey stepped on them.  
Bullock kept his mouth at Harvey’s healthy ear, his hot exhales whispering into the canal.  
“Too bad your good friend Brucie skipped town when The Bat left.” He huffed with rancid breath, bitter from cups of coffee and cigarettes.  
“I guess he cared more about his safety than yours, Dent.” He occasionally shook Two-Face between words. “I don’t blame him. You kinda lost any place you thought you had in his heart.”  
The police car greeted them outside. Ambulances and paramedic vehicles flashed as far as the eye could see; stretchers with black bags took the dead to rest. Windows reflected all the flickering shades, creating a light show in a citywide disco of death.  
Without Batman, Gotham was a giant morgue.  
Harvey said nothing, finding it useless to waste his breath now. He was busy thinking, already planning his next move.  
His thoughts got sidetracked as he felt Bullock’s words enter his good ear. Two-Face became more enraged by this, but Harvey Dent’s contentedness cancelled it out, and put the rage to rest for now.  
Still, Two-Face wanted to speak.  
“Bruce and the Bat can’t help us anymore. They can’t help you either. The GCPD is the most disappointing thing about this whole dump of a city.” Another growl erupted from his mouth, signifying a rather evil little chuckle, from Two-Face of course.  
This caused Bullock to groan in response and push Dent into a police car, to be taken to the asylum. As he was shoved into the vehicle, the grizzly voice of Bullock added to the wailing police sirens that were nearby. He was just about audible over the noise.  
“Hope you rot in hell for what you’ve done. I hope you both do.”  
And with that, the door was closed and Harvey was left with his thoughts, the voices in his head, telling him different things.  
Two-Face grew tired of not fighting and retreated to his usual place, in the darker corners of the man’s mind.  
Harvey was in control once again.  
He was left to reflect on what had just happened, and soon enough the feeling of sheer guilt washed over him. He didn’t even try to help Tetch. He let him be beaten.  
Along with the thought of what the inmates at Arkham would think of them, Harvey grew more ashamed and guilty.  
The Judge needed no voice now; Harvey was finally guilty and got what he deserved: being sent back to the asylum.

**Arkham Cells**

“Home sweet home.”  
“Oh, shut the hell up.”  
Harvey Dent groaned. It was loud enough to bounce against the cold walls, to echo around the uncomfortable cell he was now imprisoned in.  
His footsteps also echoed as he paced back and forth in the small space he had. Now he was alone, well, not completely. The bad side of him kept him company, whether he liked it or not. In this case, he did not.  
Prior to being shoved into his new temporary home, Harvey Bullock had taken him in to the asylum, taunting and teasing him all the way into the building, which simply angered Two-Face. It was far from easy, having to deal with a rage-fuelled voice in your head rambling on about what he’d like to do to a certain other Harvey. In fact, it was rather tiring.  
Well, at least Dent wouldn’t have to rearrange the furniture to satisfy both men, as he was put into the cell he was previously placed in. There was even a slight difference in paint colour on one half of the room. It made him smile a bit.  
Soon enough, the thoughts of the situation that had occurred beforehand filled Harvey’s head, and he sighed as he sat back on the mattress, back to the wall. Again, he mentally cursed himself and Two-Face for not doing anything to possibly have prevented it. But, what could he have done? The cops had surrounded them, all armed no doubt. So what was the point?  
His mental scolding was interrupted by the usual cackles and groans of the other inmates suddenly increasing in volume. It seemed they had caught wind of what Harvey and Tetch had done, or were accused of doing, regarding the young girl found in the abandoned theatre. Some of the criminals tutted in disappointment, some gossiped amongst themselves. Their words were just about audible to Harvey.  
“That’s horrible... I would never do that to a kid!”  
“Disgusting! I think even the Joker would be horrified at that.”  
“Fuckin’ pervs, both of ‘em. Deserve life in jail.”  
These remarks and mumbles circulated around the cells, even when the inmates knew fine well one of the suspects was in there with them.  
The words affected Harvey even more than they affected Two-Face. He was no pervert, pedophile, whatever they called him. It simply wasn’t true. If these people were intending to get a rise out of him, it was working splendidly, because Two-Face showed and exclaimed to the others frustratedly.  
“Cram it!”  
The voices immediately went quiet in response, as though they had just been scolded by a parent.  
Harvey merely hummed gratefully at this and lay down on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts eventually swallowed him and took him away from where he was physically.  
He wondered how Tetch was now. Where he was. It came to him that he cared about the madman enough to want to know what was happening to him. He was a friend, a trusted ally, a comrade.  
Two-Face served the purpose of being Harvey’s dark thoughts too, but this time he was saying the words out loud.  
“You don’t really believe that, do ya? He’s probably just usin’ ya. You can’t trust anyone. Not in Gotham.”  
A small growl and a shift onto his side signified Harvey wanted his worse half to be quiet, to slink back into the corner of his mind. He attempted to just close his eyes, and turn the words in his head into a mere blur.  
It took a few minutes, but he was finally dragged into a deep slumber, temporarily forgetting all that had happened.  
The only thing that remained was his worry for Tetch.

**Arkham Solitary Confinement**

The final patient had been put to sleep. It was always the same one, the loudest inmate that had yet to be discharged. He had been admitted long before Jervis ever stepped foot in Arkham and he was probably going to be there long after.  
‘To Blackgate.’  
The doctors and orderlies would oftentimes whisper it, just loud enough so that The Mad Hatter would have been able to listen. There was a peculiar stress they placed when naming the institution, as though they intended to let him hear it.  
Jervis Tetch was no simpleton. It was a curse from birth. He knew his stay at Akham was only a pit stop. His fate had been decided from high above, he’d one day find himself in real prison.  
He sat on the single mattress that served as the bed, couch and dining area inside his personal chamber, a personal something that rhymed with cell.  
A little television played a favourite film of his, albeit in black and white. He had intended to pay attention; yet it seemed like one moment the boy lived in poverty and in a blink of his eyes the child was already running with a golden ticket.  
His eyes closed again.  
A few hectic cackles and hoots made Jervis spring back into real life. How long had it been? An hour? A day? It didn’t matter. Time was no concept in these four walls.  
‘Hey pretty girl!’  
‘Gimme a kissy!’  
Light slid into The Mad Hatter’s room. The slender shadow of a woman emerged between those of two large men. Whoever they were calling at had come for The Mad Hatter.  
Jervis’ eyes widened with the threat of tears. His mouth quivered as she stood before him; her hand tightened at her own lips to prevent her from shrieking.  
“Alice…”  
Jervis remembered something about Alice. Something that lingered in the back of his head when he was recording his act of terror. She always expressed interest in the latest animated films, eager to talk all about them the next time she saw her favourite scientist.  
’Billy is unavailable for such childish things!’ she’d say over a cup of tea. Her favourite animations came on during the evening; he had to catch up on the news instead. But she was so lucky to have two wonderful men in her life, she’d say.  
He examined her figure in remorse. His brows furrowed when he caught sight of the small bump in her midriff. It was the last piece of Billy on this earth.  
A tiny gasp was forced from him; the power of two guards hoisting him off his comforter launched it from his lips.  
From behind Alice, two dark eyes grew closer.  
“Let it all out, sweetie.”  
Harvey Bullock offered a steel baton. He nudged it twice just in front of her bosom like a carrot to a horse. “Trust me, it’ll feel great.”  
Jervis’ face contorted to an ever growing sight of horror when she took it. He saw his reflection in the silver weapon as she approached. The corners of his mouth twitched before he let out a gut wrenching wail.  
A combination of Alice’s voice shouting absurdities and the men cheering words of encouragement were but whispers in comparison to Jervis. His God forsaken caterwauling roamed the halls like a tormented ghost.  
The human agony went ignored by the other residents. It was not unusual to hear the cries of anguish in this place. To those who were already out of touch with reality, there was nothing strange anymore.  
Jervis’ world blackened in and out, the mortified expression on Alice’s face greeting him with every wake.  
He felt his next slumber to be a lasting one. Before he allowed his world to darken, he gazed upon the small TV.  
A man and child rose into the clouds on an abstract brass ship. They went higher and higher;  
Jervis let his eyelids lower.  
Words appeared at the center of the screen, lulling him into blackness.


End file.
